Lategan Kim, Fowler Jodi, Bayati Mohamed, Fidalgo de Cortalezzi Maria, Pool Edmund
Department of Medical Bioscience, University of the Western Cape, Cape Town 7535, South Africa.
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA.
Nanomaterials (Basel). 2018 May 31;8(6):388. doi: 10.3390/nano8060388.
Carbon dots (CDs) are engineered nanoparticles that are used in a number of bioapplications such as bioimaging, drug delivery and theranostics. The effects of CDs on the immune system have not been evaluated. The effects of CDs on the immune system were assessed by using RAW 264.7 cells and whole blood cell cultures. RAW cells were exposed to CD concentrations under basal conditions. Whole blood cell cultures were exposed to CD concentrations under basal conditions or in the presence of the mitogens, lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or phytohaemmagglutinin (PHA). After exposure, a number of parameters were assessed, such as cell viability, biomarkers of inflammation, cytokine biomarkers of the acquired immune system and a proteome profile analysis. CDs were cytotoxic to RAW and whole blood cell cultures at 62.5, 250 and 500 μg/mL, respectively. Biomarkers associated with inflammation were induced by CD concentrations ≥250 and 500 μg/mL under basal conditions for both RAW and whole blood cell cultures, respectively. The humoral immune cytokine interleukin (IL)-10 was increased at 500 μg/mL CD under both basal and PHA activated whole blood cell culture conditions. Proteome analysis supported the inflammatory data as upregulated proteins identified are associated with inflammation. The upregulated proteins provide potential biomarkers of risk that can be assessed upon CD exposure.
碳点（CDs）是经过工程设计的纳米颗粒，用于多种生物应用，如生物成像、药物递送和治疗诊断。碳点对免疫系统的影响尚未得到评估。通过使用RAW 264.7细胞和全血细胞培养物来评估碳点对免疫系统的影响。在基础条件下，将RAW细胞暴露于不同浓度的碳点中。将全血细胞培养物在基础条件下或在有丝分裂原、脂多糖（LPS）或植物血凝素（PHA）存在的情况下暴露于碳点浓度下。暴露后，评估了许多参数，如细胞活力、炎症生物标志物、获得性免疫系统的细胞因子生物标志物以及蛋白质组分析。碳点分别在62.5、250和500μg/mL时对RAW细胞和全血细胞培养物具有细胞毒性。在基础条件下，对于RAW细胞和全血细胞培养物，分别在碳点浓度≥250和500μg/mL时诱导了与炎症相关的生物标志物。在基础条件和PHA激活的全血细胞培养条件下，当碳点浓度为500μg/mL时，体液免疫细胞因子白细胞介素（IL）-10均增加。蛋白质组分析支持了炎症数据，因为鉴定出的上调蛋白与炎症相关。上调的蛋白质提供了潜在的风险生物标志物，可在暴露于碳点时进行评估。
