Center for Biofluid and Biomimic Research, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Pohang, 37673, South Korea.
Center for Biofluid and Biomimic Research, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Pohang, 37673, South Korea; Department of Mechanical Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Pohang, 37673, South Korea.
Environ Pollut. 2018 Dec;243(Pt A):246-254. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2018.08.058. Epub 2018 Aug 22.
The multiple effect of pristine graphene (pG) toxicity on cardiovascular developmental defects was assessed using zebrafish as a model. Recently, the nanotoxicity is emerging as a critical issue, and it is more significant in embryogenesis. Especially, graphene and its derivatives have attracted a lot of interest in biomedical applications. However, very little is known about the toxic effects of pG which has been widely used carbon nanomaterial according to concentration and its effects on biological and cardiovascular development. In the present study, we examined the development of zebrafish embryos by exposing to pG (5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 μg/L) under different developmental toxicity end-points such as cardiotoxicity, cardiovascular defect, retardation of cardiac looping, apoptosis and globin expression analysis. For this, the developmental cardiotoxicity of pG at different concentrations and the specific cardiovascular defects thereof were elucidated for the first time. As a result, the exposure to pG was found to be a potential risk factor to cardiovascular system of zebrafish embryos. However, a further study on the variations of physical, molecular properties and mechanisms of nanotoxicity which vary depending on production method and surface functionalization is required. In addition, the potential risks of pG flakes to aquatic organisms and human health should be considered or checked before releasing them to the environment.
采用斑马鱼模型评估原始石墨烯（pG）对心血管发育缺陷的多种毒性作用。最近，纳米毒性作为一个关键问题而出现，而在胚胎发生中更为显著。特别是，石墨烯及其衍生物在生物医学应用中引起了广泛关注。然而，根据浓度及其对生物和心血管发育的影响，对于已广泛应用的碳纳米材料 pG 的毒性作用知之甚少。在本研究中，我们通过在不同的发育毒性终点（如心脏毒性、心血管缺陷、心脏环化延迟、细胞凋亡和珠蛋白表达分析）下，将 pG（5、10、15、20 和 25μg/L）暴露于斑马鱼胚胎中，检查了斑马鱼胚胎的发育情况。为此，首次阐明了 pG 在不同浓度下的发育性心脏毒性及其特定的心血管缺陷。结果表明，pG 的暴露对斑马鱼胚胎的心血管系统是一个潜在的危险因素。然而，需要进一步研究取决于生产方法和表面功能化的物理、分子性质和纳米毒性机制的变化。此外，在将 pG 薄片释放到环境中之前，应考虑或检查其对水生生物和人类健康的潜在风险。
