title: A quantitative study of the intracellular concentration of graphene/noble metal nanoparticle composites and their cytotoxicity.
abstract: Noble-metal nanoparticles (NPs) especially prepared from gold and silver have been combined on the surface of graphene to obtain graphene-based nanocomposites for novel functions in enhanced performance in bio-imaging, cancer detection and therapy. However, little is known about their cellular uptake, especially the intracellular quantity which plays a critical role in determining their functions and safety. Therefore, we prepared covalently conjugated GO/Au and GO/Ag composites by immobilizing Au and Ag nanoparticles on GO sheets pre-functionalized with disulfide bonds, respectively. The cellular uptake of these composites was quantitatively studied by means of an ion beam microscope (IBM) to determine the metal content in human lung cancer cells (A549 cells) and liver hepatocellular carcinoma cells (HepG2 cells). The cell uptake was also studied by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), which is one of the most sensitive techniques being applied to cell suspensions, for comparison. Toxicity, one of the consequences of cellular uptake of GO based composites, was studied as well. The potential toxicity mechanism was also suggested based on the results of intracellular quantification of the nanomaterials.
authors: MOE Key Laboratory of Macromolecular Synthesis and Functionalization, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China. zwmao@zju.edu.cn.
authors: Xiangyan
authors: X
authors: Zhou
authors: Marco
authors: M
authors: Dorn
authors: Jürgen
authors: J
authors: Vogt
authors: Daniel
authors: D
authors: Spemann
authors: Wei
authors: W
authors: Yu
authors: Zhengwei
authors: Z
authors: Mao
authors: Irina
authors: I
authors: Estrela-Lopis
authors: Edwin
authors: E
authors: Donath
authors: Changyou
authors: C
authors: Gao
mesh_terms: D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000737:chemistry; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D004220:Disulfides / Q000737:chemistry; D006046:Gold / Q000737:chemistry*; D006108:Graphite / Q000737:chemistry*; D056945:Hep G2 Cells; D006801:Humans; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D053761:Nanocomposites / Q000737:chemistry; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry; D036103:Nanotechnology; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D010087:Oxides / Q000737:chemistry; D010316:Particle Size; D056951:Photoelectron Spectroscopy; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species / Q000737:chemistry; D012834:Silver / Q000737:chemistry*; D013059:Spectrum Analysis, Raman
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D004220:Disulfides; D010087:Oxides; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species; D012834:Silver; D006046:Gold; D006108:Graphite