Human Genetics Laboratory, Department of Biological Sciences, Universidad de Los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia.
Department of Chemical Engineering, Universidad de Los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia.
Int J Nanomedicine. 2020 Aug 25;15:6421-6432. doi: 10.2147/IJN.S256760. eCollection 2020.
Expanded research on the biomedical applications of graphene has shown promising results, although interactions between cells and graphene are still unclear. The current study aims to dissect the cellular and molecular effects of graphene nanocomposite in photothermal therapy against cancer, and to evaluate its efficacy.
In this study, a reduced graphene oxide and iron oxide (rGO-FeO) nanocomposite was obtained by chemical synthesis. The nanocomposite was fully characterized by Raman spectroscopy, TEM, VSM and thermal profiling. Cell-nanocomposite interaction was evaluated by confocal microscopy and viability assays on cancer cell line HeLa. The efficacy of the thermal therapy and changes in gene expression of Bcl-2 and Hsp70 was assessed.
The resulting rGO-FeO nanocomposite exhibited superparamagnetic properties and the capacity to increase the surrounding temperature by 18-20°C with respect to the initial temperature. The studies of cell-nanocomposite interaction showed that rGO-FeO attaches to cell membrane but there is a range of concentration at which the nanomaterial preserves cell viability. Photothermal therapy reduced cell viability to 32.6% and 23.7% with 50 and 100 µg/mL of nanomaterial, respectively. The effect of treatment on the molecular mechanism of cell death demonstrated an overexpression of anti-apoptotic proteins Hsp70 and Bcl-2 as an initial response to the therapy and depending on the aggressiveness of the treatment.
The results of this study contribute to understanding the interactions between cell and graphene and support its application in photothermal therapy against cancer due to its promising results.
对石墨烯在生物医学应用方面的扩展研究已经取得了有希望的结果，尽管细胞与石墨烯之间的相互作用仍不清楚。本研究旨在剖析石墨烯纳米复合材料在光热治疗癌症中的细胞和分子效应，并评估其疗效。
在本研究中，通过化学合成获得了还原氧化石墨烯和氧化铁（rGO-FeO）纳米复合材料。通过拉曼光谱、TEM、VSM 和热分析对纳米复合材料进行了全面表征。通过共聚焦显微镜和 HeLa 癌细胞系的活力测定评估了细胞-纳米复合材料的相互作用。评估了热疗的疗效以及 Bcl-2 和 Hsp70 基因表达的变化。
所得到的 rGO-FeO 纳米复合材料表现出超顺磁性，并具有使周围温度相对于初始温度升高 18-20°C 的能力。细胞-纳米复合材料相互作用的研究表明，rGO-FeO 附着在细胞膜上，但在一定浓度范围内，纳米材料可以保持细胞活力。光热疗法使细胞活力分别降低至 50 和 100 µg/mL 纳米材料的 32.6%和 23.7%。治疗对细胞死亡分子机制的影响表明，抗凋亡蛋白 Hsp70 和 Bcl-2 的过表达是对治疗的初始反应，并且取决于治疗的侵袭性。
本研究的结果有助于了解细胞与石墨烯之间的相互作用，并支持其在光热治疗癌症中的应用，因为其结果很有希望。
