Comparison of the toxicity of pristine graphene and graphene oxide, using four biological models

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

  • Sławomir Jaworski
  • Barbara Strojny-Cieślak
  • Mateusz Wierzbicki
  • Marta Kutwin
  • Ewa Sawosz
  • Maciej Kamaszewski
  • Arkadiusz Matuszewski
  • Malwina Sosnowska
  • Jarosław Szczepaniak
  • Karolina Daniluk
  • Agata Lange
  • Michał Pruchniewski
  • Katarzyna Zawadzka
  • Maciej Łojkowski
  • Chwalibog, André

There are numerous applications of graphene in biomedicine and they can be classified into several main areas: Delivery systems, sensors, tissue engineering and biological agents. The growing biomedical field of applications of graphene and its derivates raises questions regarding their toxicity. We will demonstrate an analysis of the toxicity of two forms of graphene using four various biological models: Zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryo, duckweed (Lemna minor), human HS-5 cells and bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus). The toxicity of pristine graphene (PG) and graphene oxide (GO) was tested at concentrations of 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 µg/mL. Higher toxicity was noted after administration of high doses of PG and GO in all tested biological models. Hydrophilic GO shows greater toxicity to biological models living in the entire volume of the culture medium (zebrafish, duckweed, S. aureus). PG showed the highest toxicity to adherent cells growing on the bottom of the culture plates-human HS-5 cells. The differences in toxicity between the tested graphene materials result from their physicochemical properties and the model used. Dose-dependent toxicity has been demonstrated with both forms of graphene.

Original languageEnglish
Article number4250
JournalMaterials
Volume14
Issue number15
Number of pages18
ISSN1996-1944
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2021

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

    Research areas

  • Biological models, Graphene, Graphene oxide, Toxicity

ID: 276902045