Aqueous C60 Fullerene Solution Effects on Cell Viability

Fullerenes are carbon nanoparticles with the ability to quench reactive oxygen species. The biomedical potential of fullerenes is diminished by their low solubility in water, but many approaches have been developed to bypass this problem, like chemical modification of the carbon cage and the use of the solvent exchange method to transfer fullerenes from one solvent to the other. These two approaches were used in this study. Carboxylated fullerene aqueous solution was acquired using solvent exchange method transferring fullerene nanoparticles (C60) from toluene to water. Effects of varying concentration (0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3, 5, 10 µM) of aqueous fullerene solution on cell viability and their antioxidative capabilities were evaluated on PC-3 and on monocytes isolated from a blood donor using Resazurin Cell Viability Assay. PC-3 cell viability was drastically affected by the 10 µM fullerene solution but remained relatively stable when treated with other concentrations even after longer periods of incubation with resazurin dye. Elevated cell viability was observed in monocytes treated with various fullerene concentrations, possibly indicative of fullerene protective activity against oxidative stress.