title: Rapid detection of polyethylene glycol sonolysis upon functionalization of carbon nanomaterials.
abstract: Polyethylene glycol (PEG) and related polymers are often used in the functionalization of carbon nanomaterials in procedures that involve sonication. However, PEG is very sensitive to sonolytic degradation and PEG degradation products can be toxic to mammalian cells. Thus, it is imperative to assess potential PEG degradation to ensure that the final material does not contain undocumented contaminants that can introduce artifacts into experimental results. Described here is a simple and inexpensive polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis method to detect the sonolytic degradation of PEG. The method was used to monitor the integrity of PEG phospholipid constructs and branched chain PEGs after different sonication times. This approach not only helps detect degraded PEG, but should also facilitate rapid screening of sonication parameters to find optimal conditions that minimize PEG damage.
authors: Department of Biological Sciences, The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, Texas 75080-3021, United States of America.
authors: Vasanth S
authors: VS
authors: Murali
authors: Department of Biological Sciences, The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, Texas 75080-3021, United States of America Department of Chemistry, The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, Texas 75083-3021, United States of America.
authors: Ruhung
authors: R
authors: Wang
authors: Department of Biological Sciences, The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, Texas 75080-3021, United States of America.
authors: Carole A
authors: CA
authors: Mikoryak
authors: Department of Chemistry, The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, Texas 75083-3021, United States of America.
authors: Paul
authors: P
authors: Pantano
authors: Department of Biological Sciences, The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, Texas 75080-3021, United States of America Department of Chemistry, The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, Texas 75083-3021, United States of America draper@utdallas.edu.
authors: Rockford
authors: R
authors: Draper
mesh_terms: D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000737:chemistry / Q000633:toxicity; D004340:Drug Contamination / Q000517:prevention & control; D000067493:Dynamic Light Scattering; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel / Q000379:methods; D006108:Graphite; D036103:Nanotechnology; D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon / Q000737:chemistry; D010316:Particle Size; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols / Q000737:chemistry / Q000633:toxicity; D013010:Sonication; D013194:Staining and Labeling
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols; D006108:Graphite
keywords: Polyethylene glycol; carbon nanotubes; graphene oxide; nanotoxicity; sonolysis