Abstract
The intriguing properties of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) have paved the way for a number of potential biomedical applications such as drug delivery, tissue engineering, gene delivery and bio-sensing. Over the last decade, there have been escalating concerns regarding the possible toxic effects, behaviour and fate of rGO in living systems and environments. This paper reports on integrative chemical-biological interactions of rGO with lung cancer cells, i.e. A549 and SKMES-1, to determine its potential toxicological impacts on them, as a function of its concentration. Cell viability, early and late apoptosis and necrosis were measured to determine oxidative stress potential, and induction of apoptosis for the first time by comparing two lung cancer cells. We also showed the general trend between cell death rates and concentrations for different cell types using a Gaussian process regression model. At low concentrations, rGO was shown to significantly produce late apoptosis and necrosis rather than early apoptotic events, suggesting that it was able to disintegrate the cellular membranes in a dose dependent manner. For the toxicity exposures undertaken, late apoptosis and necrosis occurred, which was most likely resultant from limited bioavailability of unmodified rGO in lung cancer cells.
DOI
10.1088/1361-6528/aa95a8
Publication Date
2017-12-15
Publication Title
Nanotechnology
Volume
28
Issue
50
Publisher
IOP Publishing
ISSN
1361-6528
Embargo Period
2024-11-22
Recommended Citation
Tabish, T., Pranjol, M., Hayat, H., Rahat, A., & et al. (2017) 'In vitro toxic effects of reduced graphene oxide nanosheets on lung cancer cells', Nanotechnology, 28(50). IOP Publishing: Available at: https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6528/aa95a8