Effect of Nanosilver Particles on Procaspase-3 Expression in Newborn Rat Brain

Objective: nanotechnology focuses on materials having at least one dimension of lessthan 100 nanometers. nanomaterials such as nanosilver (ns) have unique physical andchemical properties such as size, shape, surface charge. ns particles are thought to induceneuronal degeneration and necrosis in the brain. it has been reported that ns particlesgenerate free radicals and oxidative stress which alters gene expression and inducesapoptosis. this study was designed to evaluate whether the detrimental effect of ns particlesis through the activation of procaspase-3 during fetal neural development.materials and methods: in this experimental study, thirty wistar female rats at day one ofpregnancy were semi-randomly distributed into three groups of ten. group 1, the controlgroup, had no treatment. from day 1 to the end of pregnancy, groups 2 and 3 received 1and 10 ppm ns respectively via drinking water. newborn rats were sacrificed immediatelyafter birth and their brains were dissected and kept frozen. total rna, extracted from brainhomogenates, was reverse transcribed to cdna. quantitative real-time polymerase chainreaction (pcr) analysis was undertaken to estimate the expression level of procaspase-3.results: developmental exposure to ns induced neurotoxicity and apoptosis. this correlatedwith a significant increase in procaspase-3 expression level especially at 10 ppm ns.conclusion: the pro-apoptotic activity of ns in cells is likely to due to the dysregulationof procaspase-3.