Cytotoxicity study of graphene oxide against vero lineage cells

Abstract

The Nobel Prize awarded in 2010 to researchers Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov of the University of Manchester push many different research groups to studying graphene, a material considered a more promising allotropic form of carbon. Graphene, according to IUPAC, consists of a sheet of carbon atoms, densely packed with a thickness of only one atom. Graphene oxide (GO) is a highly oxygenated derivative raw material. Its chemical structure and wide surface area made possible several chemical modifications and their functionalization’s make of graphene oxide an excellent platform to carry magnetic nanoparticles. In order to apply in physiological studies, we investigated the cytotoxicity of graphene oxide against the VERO line at different concentrations (1, 3, 10, 30, 100, 300 μg/mL). After statistical analysis using two-way ANOVA, followed by Tukey test using GraphPad Prism 5 software. The two lowest concentrations (1 and 3μg/mL) showed no toxicity in the chosen strain and did not produce reactive oxygen species. These results may stimulate further studies for the applications of GO in biological interactions related on the adhibition of these materials in therapeutics.