Cytotoxicity of Carbon Nanotubes, Graphene, Fullerenes, and Dots

Abstract

The cytotoxicity of carbon nanomaterials is a very important issue for microorganisms, animals, and humans. Here, we discuss the issues of cytotoxicity of carbon nanomaterials, carbon nanotubes, graphene, fullerene, and dots. Cytotoxicity issues, such as cell viability and drug release, are considered. The main part of the review is dedicated to important cell viability issues. They are presented for A549 human melanoma, E. coli, osteosarcoma, U2-OS, SAOS-2, MG63, U87, and U118 cell lines. Then, important drug release issues are discussed. Bioimaging results are shown here to illustrate the use of carbon derivatives as markers in any type of imaging used in vivo/in vitro. Finally, perspectives of the field are presented. The important issue is single-cell viability. It can allow a correlation of the functionality of organelles of single cells with the development of cancer. Such organelles are mitochondria, nuclei, vacuoles, and reticulum. It allows for finding biochemical evidence of cancer prevention in single cells. The development of investigation methods for single-cell level detection of viability stimulates the cytotoxicity investigative field. The development of single-cell microscopy is needed to improve the resolution and accuracy of investigations. The importance of cytotoxicity is drug release. It is important to control the amount of drug that is released. This is performed with pH, temperature, and electric stimulation. Further development of drug loading and bioimaging is important to decrease the cytotoxicity of carbon nanomaterials. We hope that this review is useful for researchers from all disciplines across the world.

Carbon Nanomaterial Fluorescent Probes and Their Biological Applications

“…Tissues and organs are sampled and subjected to histopathological examination, revealing any morphological changes indicative of cellular damage, inflammation, or necrosis. For a comprehensive analysis of the in vivo CNM cytotoxicity, readers are encouraged to refer to recent reviews, as this is a heavily examined topic in previous reviews. , …”

“…For a comprehensive analysis of the in vivo CNM cytotoxicity, readers are encouraged to refer to recent reviews, as this is a heavily examined topic in previous reviews. 1314,1315 There is a recent study performed to determine the cytotoxicity of CDs in vivo, where researchers found that CDs synthesized from sugar cane molasses at concentrations lower than 150 μg/mL had no impact on embryonic toxicity nor showed impediment on embryo development in zebrafish. 1316 Conversely, concentrations higher than 200 μg/mL greatly increased cytotoxicity, and demonstrated an impact on the dopamine levels, and a decrease in TH + neuronal cells.…”

Nano-Food Farming: Toward Sustainable Applications of Proteins, Mushrooms, Nano-Nutrients, and Nanofibers

“…Along with the biomedical applications of carbon nanodots, there is great interest in using carbon nanomaterials in the agriculture sector [225,226]. This ranges from enhancement of crop productivity [227][228][229] to genetic alteration and acute cytotoxicity [230], nano-seed priming [231], and nano-remediation of polluted soil [232].…”

Electroconductive Collagen‐Carbon Nanodots Nanocomposite Elicits Neurite Outgrowth, Supports Neurogenic Differentiation and Accelerates Electrophysiological Maturation of Neural Progenitor Spheroids

“…Despite the considerable efforts to characterize the potential neurotoxicity of carbon-based nanomaterials, [42,72,73] the results reported in the literature remain controversial, likely due to interstudy variations in size, physicochemical properties, and concentration. Here, to evaluate the cytocompatibility of both collagenimmobilized and suspended GlyCNDs with iPSC-derived NP spheroids, we carried out a colorimetric lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) assay complemented with propidium iodide (PI) live staining of dead cells.…”