News — medical applications of graphene oxide

Lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer death in both men and women. Annually, there are more deaths from lung cancer alone than from colon, prostate and breast cancer combined. Cisplatin is a chemotherapeutic drug used to treat lung cancer cells by destroying rapidly dividing cells by damaging nuclear DNA.

Research published in the American Chemical Society investigates the effect of co-administrating graphene oxide nanoplatelets with cisplatin for the treatment of human lung cancer A459 cells. The presence of oxygen containing functional groups on the surface of graphene oxide increase solubility, dispersibility and biocompatibility. These properties make graphene oxide suitable for use as drug carriers in drug delivery and in live cell imaging. The co-administration of graphene oxide with cisplatin showed a decrease in the percentage of viable cancer cells when compared to cisplatin alone. As the concentration of cisplatin was increased, the effect of graphene oxide co-administration on cell viability was greater. This research highlights the possibility of graphene oxide use extending into the pharmaceutical industry.

This application is just one of many studied by academic groups to utilise the unique properties of graphene oxide. If you have any enquiries about the applications of graphene oxide or how it can improve your existing applications, please get in touch and one of the GOgraphene team will be happy to help.

Langmuir, 2019, 35, 3176−3182

Hemocompatibility describes the interaction between a foreign substance and blood. It is considered one of the most important issues in tissue engineering. A collaboration between Assuit University, Stockholm University and Kangwon National University demonstrated that hemolysis assays on graphene oxide showed no hemolytic effect (destruction of red blood cells). Sonication of graphene oxide suspension increases the zeta potential which increases the dispersion stability. Cell attachment and rapid division of cells is supported by the ultrasonicated graphene oxide because of its cytocompatibility. It also promotes formation of new bone.

Research published in Materials Science and Engineering showed that ultrasonicated graphene oxide is biocompatible with human foetal osteoblast cells, human endothelial cells and mouse embryonic fibroblasts. The study showed that cell proliferation measured by optical density was most efficient in the epithelial wound using 1% ultrasonicated graphene oxide when compared to a control. The wound showed the most improvement when compared on day 1 to day 3.

Studying osteoblast growth and activity with ultrasonicated graphene oxide showed that it enhances the cell adhesion and proliferation. This is because graphene oxide acts as a scaffold for the regeneration of bone tissue.

This research serves as another great example of how graphene oxide has the potential to enable a diverse range of innovations and applications. The graphene oxide supplied through GOgraphene is being used in both academic and industrial research in many sectors. If you are interested in using graphene oxide in your research, please let us know and a member of the team will be happy to help you.

Materials Science & Engineering, C, 2019, 94, 484–492

RSC Adv., 2015,5, 10782-10789