title: Curcumin-reduced graphene oxide sheets and their effects on human breast cancer cells.
abstract: Curcumin (as a natural reductant material) was utilized for green reduction and functionalization of chemically exfoliated graphene oxide (GO) sheets. The π-π attachment of the curcumin molecules onto the curcumin-reduced graphene oxide (rGO) sheets was confirmed by Raman and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopies. Zeta potential of the GO sheets decreased from about -40 mV to -20 mV, after the green reduction and functionalization. The probable cytotoxicity of the curcumin-rGO sheets was studied through their interactions with two human breast cancer cell lines (MDA-MB-231 and SKBR3 cell lines) and a normal cell line (mouse fibroblast L929 cell line). The curcumin-rGO sheet with concentrations <70 μg/mL in the cell culture medium, not only exhibited no significant toxicity and/or cell morphological changes, but also caused some cell growths (~25% after 48 h incubation time). Nevertheless, at 70 μg/mL, initiation of some cell morphological changes was observed. At higher concentrations (e.g., 100 μg/mL), some slight cytotoxic effects (resulting in ~15-25% cell destruction) were detected by MTT assay. In addition, the interaction of the rGO sheets and cells resulted in apoptosis as well as morphological transformation of the cells (from elongated to roundup morphology). These results indicated the concentration-dependent toxicity of functionalized-rGO nanomaterials (here, curcumin-rGO) at the threshold concentration of ~100 μg/mL.
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Shadie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hatamie
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Sharif University of Technology, P.O. Box 11155-9161, Tehran, Iran; Institute for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, Sharif University of Technology, P.O. Box 14588-89694, Tehran, Iran. Electronic address: oakhavan@sharif.edu.
authors.forename: Omid
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Akhavan
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran; Institute for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, Sharif University of Technology, P.O. Box 14588-89694, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Sayed Khatiboleslam
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Sadrnezhaad
authors.affiliation: Institute for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, Sharif University of Technology, P.O. Box 14588-89694, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad Mahdi
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Ahadian
authors.affiliation: USTC-SHINCRON Joint Laboratory, Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China.
authors.forename: Mandar M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Shirolkar
authors.affiliation: USTC-SHINCRON Joint Laboratory, Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China.
authors.forename: Haiqian Q
authors.initials: HQ
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D003474:Curcumin / Q000737:chemistry*; D005260:Female; D006108:Graphite / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D010087:Oxides / Q000737:chemistry; D013057:Spectrum Analysis
chemical_list: D010087:Oxides; D006108:Graphite; D003474:Curcumin
keywords: Cancer cells; Cell viability; Curcumin; Graphene