Issue 3, 2018

Graphene oxide is degraded by neutrophils and the degradation products are non-genotoxic

Abstract

Neutrophils were previously shown to digest oxidized carbon nanotubes through a myeloperoxidase (MPO)-dependent mechanism, and graphene oxide (GO) was found to undergo degradation when incubated with purified MPO, but there are no studies to date showing degradation of GO by neutrophils. Here we produced endotoxin-free GO by a modified Hummers’ method and asked whether primary human neutrophils stimulated to produce neutrophil extracellular traps or activated to undergo degranulation are capable of digesting GO. Biodegradation was assessed using a range of techniques including Raman spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and mass spectrometry. GO sheets of differing lateral dimensions were effectively degraded by neutrophils. As the degradation products could have toxicological implications, we also evaluated the impact of degraded GO on the bronchial epithelial cell line BEAS-2B. MPO-degraded GO was found to be non-cytotoxic and did not elicit any DNA damage. Taken together, these studies have shown that neutrophils can digest GO and that the biodegraded GO is non-toxic for human lung cells.

Graphical abstract: Graphene oxide is degraded by neutrophils and the degradation products are non-genotoxic

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
18 Maijs 2017
Accepted
16 Dec. 2017
First published
18 Dec. 2017

Nanoscale, 2018,10, 1180-1188

Graphene oxide is degraded by neutrophils and the degradation products are non-genotoxic

S. P. Mukherjee, A. R. Gliga, B. Lazzaretto, B. Brandner, M. Fielden, C. Vogt, L. Newman, A. F. Rodrigues, W. Shao, P. M. Fournier, M. S. Toprak, A. Star, K. Kostarelos, K. Bhattacharya and B. Fadeel, Nanoscale, 2018, 10, 1180 DOI: 10.1039/C7NR03552G

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