biostudies-literatureUnknown44(3)Yang YSilicon is one of the most widely used chemical materials, and the increasing use of silica nanoparticles (SNs) highlights the requirement for safety and biological toxicity studies. The damaging and adverse effects of SNs on human hepatocytes remain largely unknown, as do the mechanisms involved. In the present study, the mechanisms underlying SN‑induced toxicity in the human hepatocyte cell line HL‑7702 were investigated. An MTT assay revealed that following exposure to SNs in the concentration range of 25‑200 µg/ml, the viability of HL‑7702 cells decreased, and the viability decreased further with increasing exposure time. SNs induced a delay in the S and G2/M phases of the cell cycle, and also induced DNA damage in these cells. Western blot and flow cytometry analyses revealed that celInternational journal of molecular medicine903-912https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC6657974biostudies-literatureMechanism of cell death induced by silica nanoparticles in hepatocyte cells is by apoptosis.PMC6657974Yang XLiu JZhang EShao HYang YWang QPeng CYeo AJSai LLavin MFDu XDu ZfalseMechanism of cell death induced by silica nanoparticles in hepatocyte cells is by apoptosis.Silicon is one of the most widely used chemical materials, and the increasing use of silica nanoparticles (SNs) highlights the requirement for safety and biological toxicity studies. The damaging and adverse effects of SNs on human hepatocytes remain largely unknown, as do the mechanisms involved. In the present study, the mechanisms underlying SN‑induced toxicity in the human hepatocyte cell line HL‑7702 were investigated. An MTT assay revealed that following exposure to SNs in the concentration range of 25‑200 µg/ml, the viability of HL‑7702 cells decreased, and the viability decreased further with increasing exposure time. SNs induced a delay in the S and G2/M phases of the cell cycle, and also induced DNA damage in these cells. Western blot and flow cytometry analyses revealed that cel2019-01-01T00:00:00Z2019 Sep2026-06-06T18:20:03.397Z2019-08-12T07:03:22ZS-EPMC66579743152422510.3892/ijmm.2019.4265