| Summary: | Suhaili Shamsi,1 Addison Alvin Alagan,1 Seri Narti Edayu Sarchio,2 Faizah Md Yasin3,4 1Laboratory of Animal Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor 43400, Malaysia; 2Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor 43400, Malaysia; 3Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor 43400, Malaysia; 4Institute of Advanced Technology, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor 43400, MalaysiaCorrespondence: Suhaili ShamsiLaboratory of Animal Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor 43400, MalaysiaTel +603-9769 7964Fax +603-9769 7590Email sh_suhaili@upm.edu.myBackground: In the current literature, there are ongoing debates on the toxicity of graphene oxide (GO) that demonstrate contradictory findings regarding its toxicity profile. As a potential drug carrier, these findings are very concerning due to the safety concerns in humans, as well as the dramatic rise of GO being excreted into the environment. Therefore, there is an imperative need to mitigate the potential toxicity of GO to allow for a safer application in the future.Purpose: The present study aims to address this issue by functionalizing GO with Pluronic F127 (PF) as a means to mitigate toxicity and resolve the biocompatibility of GO. Although results from previous studies generally indicated that Pluronic functionalized GO exhibits relatively low toxicity to living organisms, reports that emphasize on its toxicity, particularly during embryonic developmental stage, are still scarce.Methods: In the present study, two different sizes of native GO samples, GO and NanoGO, as well as PF-functionalized GO, GO-PF and NanoGO-PF, were prepared and characterized using DLS, UV-Vis, Raman spectroscopy, FTIR, and FESEM analyses. Toxicological assessment of all GO samples (0– 100 μg/mL) on zebrafish embryonic developmental stages (survival, hatching and heart rates, and morphological changes) was recorded daily for up to 96 hours post-fertilization (hpf).Results: The toxicity effects of each GO sample were observed to be higher at increasing concentrations and upon prolonged exposure. NanoGO demonstrated lower toxicity effects compared to GO. GO-PF and NanoGO-PF were also found to have lower toxicity effects compared to native GO samples. GO-PF showed the lowest toxicity response on zebrafish embryo.Conclusion: These findings highlight that toxicity is dependent on the concentration, size, and exposure period of GO. Functionalization of GO with PF through surface coating could potentially mitigate the toxicity effects of GO in embryonic developmental stages, but further investigation is warranted for broader future applications.Keywords: graphene oxide, pluronic, nanomaterial, toxicity, embryogenesis
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