These findings revealed that GO exposure could

result in a great reduction of splenic erythroid cells through apoptosis but not for bone marrow erythroid cells. The large difference between spleen and bone marrow is likely due to a very difficult transportation of GO into the bone marrow through circulation and a higher sensitivity to apoptosis of erythroid progenitors in spleen than those in bone marrow as well [22, 32]. Together, these findings demonstrated that GO greatly impaired erythroid population through inducing cell death of erythroid cells. Figure 7 GO-promoted cell death of splenic erythroid cells. FACS analysis of proportion of apoptotic erythroid cells (Ter119+ cell population). The single-cell selleck compound suspensions from spleens were simultaneously stained with PE-conjugated anti-Ter119 Ab, FITC-conjugated Annexin V, and 7AAD to sort the apoptotic Ter119+ in spleens. After sorting in the first left gate, Ter119 positive cells were selected and then further analyzed for cell death. The quantified data for the average percentage of apoptotic Ter119+

cells are shown in the bar graph (n = 4). Conclusions The blood circulation system is an important barrier against invaders, including nanomaterials under biomedical applications or environmental absorption. The blood cells are primarily responsible for governing their trafficking and systemic translocation. Since RBCs are the most abundant cell population in peripheral blood (4.1 to 5.9 × 106/ml RBCs vs. 4.4 to 11.3 × 106/ml white blood cells in humans), these cells presumably have a much MRT67307 greater probability of exposure to nanomaterials in the circulation after administration, with possible adverse effects such SPTBN5 as hemolysis [33–35]. For clearance of nanomaterials

from the circulation, the macrophages are responsible for recognizing and ingesting these particles [36]. Therefore, the nanomaterials transporting in the circulation or deposited within macrophages could cause harm to these cells as well as to the immune system. To date, studies on toxicity of QDs and GO to RBCs or macrophages have been limited and without conclusive answers, and this certainly warrants detailed investigation. Our combined results demonstrated that QDs could be readily engulfed by macrophages and provoked intracellular ROS generation. Particularly, QDs coated with PEG-NH2 had a greater capability for FK228 cost entering the cells and revealed a robust ability to repress the proliferation of J774A.1 cells. This indicated that surface modification could be optimized to ensure the function and the safety of QDs as well. Meanwhile, to the best of our knowledge, the biological impact of graphene on erythroid progenitor cells has not been previously reported. Our study is the first to demonstrate that GO could provoke apoptosis of erythroid cells in vitro and in vivo. These data suggested that GO could likely possess the potential to disrupt the concerted balance of erythropoiesis in mammalians including humans.