Pro-inflammatory responses of RAW264.7 macrophages when treated with ultralow concentrations of silver, titanium dioxide, and zinc oxide nanoparticles.

To cellular systems, nanoparticles are considered as foreign particles. Upon particles and cells contact, innate immune system responds by activating the inflammatory pathway. However, excessive inflammation had been linked to various diseases ranging from allergic responses to cancer. Common nanoparticles, namely silver, titanium dioxide, and zinc oxide exist in the environment as well as in consumer products at ultralow level of 10(-6)-10(-3) µg mL(-1). However, so far the risks of such low NPs concentrations remain unexplored. Therefore, we attempted to screen the pro-inflammatory responses after ultralow concentration treatments of the three nanoparticles on RAW264.7 macrophages, which are a part of the immune system, at both cellular and gene levels. Even though cytotoxicity was only observed at nanoparticles concentrations as high as 10 µg mL(-1), through the level of NF-κB and upregulation of pro-inflammatory genes, we observed activation of the induction of genes encoding pro-inflammatory cytokines starting already at 10(-7) µg mL(-1). This calls for more thorough characterization of nanoparticles in the environment as well as in consumer products to ascertain the health and safety of the consumers and living systems in general.

Toxicity profiling of water contextual zinc oxide, silver, and titanium dioxide nanoparticles in human oral and gastrointestinal cell systems.

Engineered nanoparticles (ENPs) are increasingly detected in water supply due to environmental release of ENPs as the by-products contained within the effluent of domestic and industrial run-off. The partial recycling of water laden with ENPs, albeit at ultra-low concentrations, may pose an uncharacterized threat to human health. In this study, we investigated the toxicity of three prevalent ENPs: zinc oxide, silver, and titanium dioxide over a wide range of concentrations that encompasses drinking water-relevant concentrations, to cellular systems representing oral and gastrointestinal tissues. Based on published in silico-predicted water-relevant ENPs concentration range from 100 pg/L to 100 µg/L, we detected no cytotoxicity to all the cellular systems. Significant cytotoxicity due to the NPs set in around 100 mg/L with decreasing extent of toxicity from zinc oxide to silver to titanium dioxide NPs. We also found that noncytotoxic zinc oxide NPs level of 10 mg/L could elevate the intracellular oxidative stress. The threshold concentrations of NPs that induced cytotoxic effect are at least two to five orders of magnitude higher than the permissible concentrations of the respective metals and metal oxides in drinking water. Based on these findings, the current estimated levels of NPs in potable water pose little cytotoxic threat to the human oral and gastrointestinal systems within our experimental boundaries.

Noble metal (Pd, Ru, Rh, Pt, Au, Ag) doped graphene hybrids for electrocatalysis.

Metal decorated graphene materials are highly important for catalysis. In this work, noble metal doped-graphene hybrids were prepared by a simple and scalable method. The thermal reductions of metal doped-graphite oxide precursors were carried out in nitrogen and hydrogen atmospheres and the effects of these atmospheres as well as the metal components on the characteristics and catalytic capabilities of the hybrid materials were studied. The hybrids exfoliated in nitrogen atmosphere contained a higher amount of oxygen-containing groups and lower density of defects on their surfaces than hybrids exfoliated in hydrogen atmosphere. The metals significantly affected the electrochemical behavior and catalysis of compounds that are important in energy production and storage and in electrochemical sensing. Research in the field of energy storage and production, electrochemical sensing and biosensing as well as biomedical devices can take advantage of the properties and catalytic capabilities of the metal doped graphene hybrids.

The inherent electrochemistry of nickel/nickel-oxide nanoparticles.

The direct detection of nanoparticles is at the forefront of research owing to their environmental and toxicological applications. Herein, we studied the inherent electrochemistry of Ni and NiO nanoparticles and proposed a simple and direct electrochemical method for the determination of the concentrations of both nickel (Ni) and nickel oxide (NiO) nanoparticles in alkaline solution. A highly sensitive voltammetry technique was used to measure the oxidative signal of Ni(OH)(2) that formed spontaneously on the surface of Ni and NiO nanoparticles in alkaline media. Detection limits of 220 µg mL(-1) for Ni and 13 µg mL(-1) for NiO nanoparticles were obtained. Ni and NiO nanoparticles are used as electrode modifiers or as electrochemical signal labels in various biosensing applications. Therefore, methods to rapidly quantify the amount of Ni and NiO nanoparticles are of widespread potential use.

Detection of DNA hybridization on chemically modified graphene platforms.

The increasing demand for simple, low-cost, rapid, sensitive and label-free methods for the detection of DNA sequences and the presence of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) has become an important issue in biomedical research. In this work, we studied the performances of several chemically modified graphene nanomaterials as sensing platforms by using the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy technique for the detection. We employed a hairpin DNA as a highly selective probe for the detection of SNP correlated to Alzheimer's disease. We believe that our findings may present a foundation for further research and development in graphene-based impedimetric biosensing.

Direct determination of bioavailable molybdenum in carbon nanotubes.

Bioavailable residual metallic impurities within carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are responsible for the toxicity of CNTs. Herein we present a method for fast, sensitive determination of bioavailable molybdenum residual catalyst impurities within CNTs by using electrochemical oxidation in neutral pH buffers at low potentials. This method is unique because no other method can rapidly distinguish between bioavailable/mobilizable impurities from defects in CNTs and between the total amounts of impurities. This method will be indispensable for future toxicological studies of CNTs.