Cerium oxide nanoparticle synthesis by ethylene glycol-assisted precipitation and biocompatibility assessment on C2C12 mouse myoblasts

The purpose of this thesis was to evaluate the antioxidant capacity of cerium oxide nanoparticles, synthetized by a glycol-assisted precipitation method, as a free radical scavenger against oxidative chemical species in muscle cell cultures. The experimental work was focused mainly on two aspects: the procedure to fabricate the nanoparticles and the several tests to measure and analyse their properties, including their antioxidant effect on the mouse C2C12 myoblast line. The first part of the work was thus focused on the fabrication of antioxidants with nanometric size and suitable chemical composition. These properties were examined by relying on characterization techniques, such as scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and others. The second part of the work was focused on the quantification of the nanoparticle effects by cell culture, optical microscopy and fluorimetric techniques, including Coomassie Brilliant Blue staining of fixed cultures, and Pico Green® Assay. Thanks to these techniques, it was possible testing the nanoparticle cytocompability, and obtaining information regarding viability and proliferation. The work enabled the determination of the most effective concentration of nanoceria in terms of antioxidant properties and of cell viability at the end of the experiment.