Patent ID: 8512943

Claim:
An in vitro method of predicting the toxicity of nanomaterials in subjects exposed to nanomaterials, the method comprising the steps of: (a) providing a quantity of cells to an in vitro culture system, the in vitro culture system including a tissue culture medium; (b) adding thereto a quantity of nanomaterials; (c) maintaining said cells with the nanomaterials for a period of time; and (d) performing on said cells a plurality of in vitro assays including all of: (i) a reactive oxygen species (ROS) production assay; (ii) a phase II antioxidant molecule expression assay; (iii) a proinflammatory cascade activation assay; (iv) a mitochondrial perturbation and apopotosis assay; and (v) an assay to determine cellular uptake and subcellular localization of the nanoparticles; wherein the results of said in vitro assays predict the toxicity of said nanomaterials in a subject exposed to the nanomaterials.