Behavior and Toxicity of Graphene and Its Functionalized Derivatives in Biological Systems

Abstract

Graphene, as a class of 2D carbon nanomaterial, has attracted tremendous interest in different areas in recent years including biomedicine. The toxicity and behavior of graphene in biological systems are thus important fundamental issues that require significant attention. In this article, the toxicity of graphene is reviewed by describing the behavior of graphene and its derivatives in microorganisms, cells, and animals. Despite certain inconsistencies in several detailed experimental results and hypotheses of toxicity mechanisms, results from numerous reports all agree that the physicochemical properties such as surface functional groups, charges, coatings, sizes, and structural defects of graphene may affect its in vitro/in vivo behavior as well as its toxicity in biological systems. It is hoped that this review article will provide an overview understanding of the impacts, behavior, and toxicology of graphene and its derivatives in various biological systems.

Molybdenum disulfide/graphene oxide nanocomposites show favorable lung targeting and enhanced drug loading/tumor-killing efficacy with improved biocompatibility

“…9,71,72 Different from GO, MoS 2 materials harbored much weaker interaction with plasma membrane, possibly due to the absence of active oxygen-containing functional groups on their surface. 69,73 By contrast, MoS 2 /GO displayed a reduced capability to interact with plasma membrane, presumably being ascribed to the existence of MoS 2 . Moreover, macrophages are a vital type of immune cells in recognizing and interacting with nanomaterials, which may further lead to phagocytosis and clearance of extraneous nanomaterials.…”

“…Nonetheless, many studies have shown that under certain conditions, GO is highly 1 toxic because of its reactive surface groups. [18][19][20][21] For instance, our recent reports revealed an active interaction between GO and macrophages, inducing macrophagic pro-inflammatory responses, necrosis, cellular injuries and fibrosis. 9,10,22 Therefore, improving GO's biocompatibility becomes a crucial prerequisite prior to expanding its bio-applications.…”

Graphene Oxide/Ag Nanoparticles Cooperated with Simvastatin as a High Sensitive X‐Ray Computed Tomography Imaging Agent for Diagnosis of Renal Dysfunctions

“…Therefore, the levels of these markers were used to evaluate the degree of tissue lesion. [37] On the other hand, the changes of these markers associated with exposure dose of GO/AgNPs are shown in Figure S4 (Supporting Information). The result indicates that 20 and 30 mg per kg bw GO/ AgNPs could induce significant change as compared with control groups (p < 0.05).…”

“…[38] The hematology markers of GO/AgNPs exposure groups are obviously abnormal as compared with normal mice (p < 0.05), indicating that GO have induced successfully the pathological change for liver and kidneys in agreement with previous reports. [37,39] As can be observed from effect of simvastatin on serum hematology markers of S/G, S-G, G/S, control, and GO/AgNPs, the changes of ALT, AST, TB, CREA, BUN, and Cys-C are shown in Figure 2B. Except for CREA, almost all of hematology markers are abnormal levels after injection with GO/AgNPs, but abnormal levels of these markers induced by GO/AgNPs have returned to normal values via the administrations of simvastatin (S/G, S-G, and G/S) (vs control groups, p < 0.05).…”

“…Therefore, the diagnosis of GO/AgNPs to renal dysfunction would have important clinical and research significance. Previously, many works [33,34,37,[51][52][53] have been reported that GO can be gradually cleared by both renal excretion, meaning that GO/AgNPs have great potential in diagnosis and treatment of the nephropathy. As can be seen from Figure 6A, after intravenous administration with 0.5-10 mg per kg bw of GO/AgNPs for 36 h, the highquality renal imaging can be clearly observed by enhanced-CT under the protection of 20 mg per kg bw simvastatin.…”