Amination of Graphene Oxide Leads to Increased Cytotoxicity in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells

Abstract

Clinically, there is an urgent need to identify new therapeutic strategies for selectively treating cancer cells. One of the directions in this research is the development of biocompatible therapeutics that selectively target cancer cells. Here, we show that novel aminated graphene oxide (haGO-NH2) nanoparticles demonstrate increased toxicity towards human hepatocellular cancer cells compared to pristine graphene oxide(GO). The applied novel strategy for amination leads to a decrease in the size of haGO-NH2 and their zeta potential, thus, assuring easier penetration through the cell membrane. After characterization of the biological activities of pristine and aminated GO, we have demonstrated strong cytotoxicity of haGO-NH2 toward hepatic cancer cells—HepG2 cell line, in a dose-dependent manner. We have presented evidence that the cytotoxic effects of haGO-NH2 on hepatic cancer cells were due to cell membrane damage, mitochondrial dysfunction and increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. Intrinsically, our current study provides new rationale for exploiting aminated graphene oxide as an anticancer therapeutic.

PEGylated Nanographene Oxide in Combination with Near-Infrared Laser Irradiation as a Smart Nanocarrier in Colon Cancer Targeted Therapy

“…Vital morphology of Colon26 and HT29 cells treated with nGO and nGO-PEG NPs and NIR irradiated was visualized by Fluorescein Diacetate (FDA) staining [ 24 ]. Cells were plated in 24-well plates containing sterile cover glasses, treated with NPs, and NIR –irradiated, as described above.…”

“…Additionally, GO nanoparticles not only function as effective drug carriers, but also have the potential to exert adverse effects on cancer cells by inducing the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and DNA damage in cancer cells [ 23 ]. Our previous expertise with pristine and aminated GO nanosheets demonstrated that amination enhanced the GO therapeutic effects in colorectal and hepatocellular carcinoma cells [ 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 ]. Nanoparticles (NPs)-mediated ROS production is considered as the primary source of nanoparticles’ toxicity [ 28 ].…”

Recent advancements in corrosion inhibitor systems through carbon allotropes: Past, present, and future

“…Functionalization of the GO can also be carried out using epoxide ring opening reactions using amine (R-NH 2 ) and alcohol (R-OH). [47][48][49] These reactions are widely used attaching the poly(allylamine) and poly(vinyl alcohol) moieties to the aromatic rings. Functionalization of > C = C < can be carried out using free radical catalyzed cycloaddition reaction (Diels-Alder type reaction).…”

Bioactivity of PEGylated Graphene Oxide Nanoparticles Combined with Near-Infrared Laser Irradiation Studied in Colorectal Carcinoma Cells

“…FACS evaluation of the effect of GO, GO-PEG and NIR alone or the combination of NPs with NIR on the mitochondrial activity in Colon26 and HT29 cells was performed as described in [41]. To this aim, mitochondria were stained with Rhodamine 123 (Rh123), a lipophilic cationic fluorescent dye, which is routinely used to assess mitochondrial metabolism and activity [42][43][44][45] in individual cells by flow cytometry [36,41,46]. Depending on the respiration-driven membrane potential (∆Ψm), only mitochondria of viable cells incorporate the appropriate amount of Rh123.…”