Warsaw University of Technology, 02-507 Warsaw, Wołoska 141, Poland.
Warsaw University of Technology, 00-664 Warsaw, Noakowskiego 3, Poland.
J Hazard Mater. 2017 Oct 5;339:1-8. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2017.06.004. Epub 2017 Jun 6.
MXenes are a novel family of 2D materials, the biological activity of which has been largely unexplored. The present study, for the first time, shows some aspects of the in vitro toxicity of 2D sheets of TiC MXene. The TiAlC MAX phase was used in an expansion and delamination process to obtain TiC material in the form of 2D sheets. The obtained 2D material was characterized using SEM, TEM, DLS, XPS, and zeta potential. The biological activity of the MXene was determined on two normal (MRC-5 and HaCaT) and two cancerous (A549 and A375) cell lines. The cytotoxicity results indicated that the observed toxic effects were higher against cancerous cells compared to normal ones. The mechanisms of potential toxicity were also elucidated. It was shown that MXene may affect the occurrence of oxidative stress and, in consequence, the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). The results of the present study provide the principal knowledge to date regarding the biological activity of the MXenes; the lack of such knowledge is the major obstacle on the MXenes' road to further research and development on their applications in bioscience and biotechnology, e.g. as drug-delivery systems.
MXenes 是一类新型的二维材料，其生物学活性在很大程度上尚未得到探索。本研究首次展示了二维 TiC MXene 片层体外毒性的一些方面。使用 TiAlC MAX 相的膨胀和分层过程获得二维 TiC 材料。采用 SEM、TEM、DLS、XPS 和 zeta 电位对获得的二维材料进行了表征。MXene 的生物活性在两种正常（MRC-5 和 HaCaT）和两种癌细胞（A549 和 A375）系上进行了测定。细胞毒性结果表明，与正常细胞相比，观察到的毒性作用对癌细胞更高。还阐明了潜在毒性的机制。结果表明，MXene 可能影响氧化应激的发生，进而影响活性氧物质（ROS）的产生。本研究的结果提供了迄今为止关于 MXenes 生物学活性的主要知识；缺乏这些知识是 MXenes 在生物科学和生物技术应用方面进一步研究和开发的主要障碍，例如作为药物输送系统。
