Electrochemical evaluation of proton beam radiation effect on the B16 cell culture

Proton irradiation induced reactive oxygen species promote morphological and functional changes in HepG2 cells

The increased use of proton therapy has led to the need of better understanding the cellular mechanisms involved. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects induced by the accelerated proton beam in hepatocarcinoma cells. An existing facility in IFIN-HH, a 3 MV Tandetron™ accelerator, was used to irradiate HepG2 human hepatocarcinoma cells with doses between 0 and 3 Gy. Colony formation was used to assess the influence of radiation on cell long-term replication. Also, the changes induced at the mitochondrial level were shown by increased ROS and ATP levels as well as a decrease in the mitochondrial membrane potential. An increased dose has induced DNA damages and G₂/M cell cycle arrest which leads to caspase 3/7 mediated apoptosis and senescence induction. Finally, the morphological and ultrastructural changes were observed at the membrane level and the nucleus of the irradiated cells. Thus, proton irradiation induces both morphological and functional changes in HepG2 cells.

Bioconjugates of mercaptocarboxylic acids functionalized AuNP and superoxide dismutase for superoxide electrochemical monitoring

The use of gold nanoparticles/superoxide dismutase (AuNP/SOD) bioconjugates is described as building blocks in SOD biosensor development for the quantification of superoxide in cell culture media. AuNP functionalization with 11-mercaptoundecanoic acid (MUA) and 4-mercaptobenzoic acid (MBA) (AuNP_MUA and AuNP_MBA) was used to improve SOD immobilization through EDC/NHS coupling using their -COOH terminus, leading to the formation of more stable bioconjugates. AuNP and AuNP/SOD bioconjugates were characterized by SEM to determine their size and morphology, UV-Vis for optical properties, FT-IR, and Raman spectroscopies for chemical functional group analysis and EDX for elemental analysis. Electrochemical methods were used to characterize the Au/AuNP-modified electrodes. For the optimization of the biosensor architecture, different AuNP/enzyme bioconjugates were prepared by varying the amount of both enzyme and AuNP, as well as their incubation time. Finally, the biosensors incorporating the bioconjugates were characterized by fixed potential amperometry and voltammetric analysis in order to establish the enzymatic mechanism and to elucidate the best biosensor architecture for monitoring superoxide in cell culture media. The best sensitivity value for superoxide detection corresponded to 41.2 nA µM cm^-2, achieved by a biosensor based on AuNP_MBA/SOD bioconjugates monitored through fixed potential amperometry at 0.3 V vs. Ag/AgCl, with a limit of detection of 1.0 µM, and overall very good operational stability, maintaining 91% of the initial sensitivity after 30 days. Finally, the optimized biosensor was employed for the quantification of successive additions of superoxide in cell culture media, with excellent recovery values.