Zhou Ruhong, Gao Huajian
Computational Biology Center, IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, NY, USA; Department of Chemistry, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
Wiley Interdiscip Rev Nanomed Nanobiotechnol. 2014 Sep-Oct;6(5):452-74. doi: 10.1002/wnan.1277. Epub 2014 Jun 23.
Graphene, a unique two-dimensional single-atom-thin nanomaterial with exceptional structural, mechanical, and electronic properties, has spurred an enormous interest in many fields, including biomedical applications, which at the same time ignites a growing concern on its biosafety and potential cytotoxicity to human and animal cells. In this review, we present a summary of some very recent studies on this important subject with both experimental and theoretical approaches. The molecular interactions of graphene with proteins, DNAs, and cell membranes (both bacteria and mammalian cells) are discussed in detail. Severe distortions in structures and functions of these biomacromolecules by graphene are identified and characterized. For example, the graphene is shown to disrupt bacteria cell membranes by insertion/cutting as well as destructive extraction of lipid molecules directly. More interestingly, this cytotoxicity has been shown to have implications in de novo design of nanomedicine, such as graphene-based band-aid, a potential 'green' antibiotics due to its strong physical-based (instead of chemical-based) antibacterial capability. These studies have provided a better understanding of graphene nanotoxicity at both cellular and molecular levels, and also suggested therapeutic potential by using graphene's cytotoxicity against bacteria cells.
石墨烯是一种独特的二维单原子层纳米材料，具有卓越的结构、机械和电子性能，在包括生物医学应用在内的许多领域引发了极大的兴趣，与此同时，人们也越来越关注其生物安全性以及对人类和动物细胞的潜在细胞毒性。在这篇综述中，我们用实验和理论方法对关于这个重要主题的一些最新研究进行了总结。详细讨论了石墨烯与蛋白质、DNA以及细胞膜（细菌和哺乳动物细胞）的分子相互作用。确定并表征了石墨烯对这些生物大分子结构和功能的严重破坏。例如，石墨烯通过插入/切割以及直接破坏提取脂质分子来破坏细菌细胞膜。更有趣的是，这种细胞毒性已被证明在纳米医学的从头设计中有应用，比如基于石墨烯的创可贴，由于其强大的基于物理（而非化学）的抗菌能力，它是一种潜在的“绿色”抗生素。这些研究在细胞和分子水平上对石墨烯的纳米毒性有了更好的理解，同时也提出了利用石墨烯对细菌细胞的细胞毒性进行治疗的潜力。
