Biosafety and Antibacterial Ability of Graphene and Graphene Oxide In Vitro and In Vivo

• Main Authors: Long Pang, Chunqiu Dai, Long Bi, Zhongshang Guo, Junjun Fan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: SpringerOpen 2017-10-01
• Series: Nanoscale Research Letters
• Subjects: Graphene; Graphene oxide; Nanoparticles; Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells; Biocompatibility; Antibacterial ability
• Online Access: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s11671-017-2317-0

Abstract In recent years, graphene (G) and graphene oxide (GO) nanoparticles have begun to be applied in surgical implant surface modification. However, biosafety and antibacterial ability of G and GO are still unclear. In this study, the biosafety of G and GO in vitro was evaluated by co-culture with bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) and biosafety in vivo was observed by implanting materials into mice muscle tissue. Biosafety results showed that 10 μg/ml was the safety critical concentration for G and GO. When the concentration was more than 10 μg/ml, the cytotoxicity of G and GO showed a dose-dependent manner. Antibacterial results showed that G presented the antibacterial ability with the concentration equal to and more than 100 μg/ml; GO presented the antibacterial ability with the concentration equal to and more than 50 μg/ml. The antibacterial effect of G and GO were in a dose-dependent manner in vitro. The GO or G concentration between 50 and 100 μg/ml may be the better range to keep the balance of cytotoxicity and antibacterial ability. Our study reveals that G and GO have potential to be used in clinic with good biosafety and antibacterial properties in a certain concentration range.