Application of carbon nanostructures in biomedicine: realities, difficulties, prospects

The review systematizes data on the wide possibilities of practical application of carbon nanostructures. Much attention is paid to the use of carbon nanomaterials in medicine for the visualization of tumors during surgical interventions, in the creation of cosmetics, as well as in agriculture in the creation of fertilizers. Additionally, we demonstrate trends in research in the field of carbon nanomaterials with a view to elaborating targeted drug delivery systems. We also show the creation of nanosized medicinal substances and diagnostic systems, and the production of new biomaterials. A separate section is devoted to the difficulties in studying carbon nanomaterials. The review is intended for a wide range of readers, as well as for experts in the field of nanotechnology and nanomedicine.

C60 adduct with L-arginine as a promising nanomaterial for treating cerebral ischemic stroke

The work aimed to investigate the biocompatibility and biological activity of the water-soluble fullerene adduct C60-Arg. It was found that the material is haemocompatible, is not cyto- and genotoxic, possesses pronounced antioxidant activity. Additionally, this paper outlines the direction of application of water-soluble fullerene adducts in the creation of neuroprotectors. It has been suggested that a putative mechanism of the protective action of the C60-Arg adduct is associated with its antioxidant properties, the ability to penetrate the blood-brain barrier, and release nitrogen monoxide as a result of the catabolism of L-arginine residues, which promote vascular relaxation. The action of the C60-Arg adduct was compared with the action of such an antioxidant as Edaravone, which is approved in Japan for the treatment of ischemic and haemorrhagic strokes.

Covalent conjugates based on nanodiamonds with doxorubicin and a cytostatic drug from the group of 1,3,5-triazines: Synthesis, biocompatibility and biological activity

We report the synthesis of covalent conjugates of nanodiamonds with doxorubicin and a cytostatic drug from the class of 1,3,5-triazines. The obtained conjugates were identified using a number of physicochemical methods (IR-spectroscopy, NMR-spectroscopy, XRD, XPS, TEM). As a result of our study, it was found that ND-СONH-Dox and ND-COO-Diox showed good hemocompatibility, since they did not affect plasma coagulation hemostasis, platelet functional activity, and erythrocyte membrane. The ND-COO-Diox conjugates are also capable of binding to human serum albumin due to the presence of ND in their composition. In the study of the cytotoxic properties of ND-СONH-Dox and ND-COO-Diox in the T98G glioblastoma cell line, indicating that ND-СONH-Dox and ND-COO-Diox demonstrate greater cytotoxicity at lower concentrations of Dox and Diox in the composition of the conjugates compared to individual drugs; the cytotoxic effect of ND-COO-Diox was statistically significantly higher than that of ND-СONH-Dox at all concentrations studied. Greater cytotoxicity at lower concentrations of Dox and Diox in the composition of conjugates compared to individual cytostatics makes it promising to further study the specific antitumor activity and acute toxicity of these conjugates in models of glioblastoma in vivo. Our results demonstrated that ND-СONH-Dox and ND-COO-Diox enter HeLa cells predominantly via a nonspecific actin-dependent mechanism, while for ND-СONH-Dox a clathrin-dependent endocytosis pathway. All data obtained provide that the synthesized nanomaterials show a potential application as the agents for intertumoral administration.

Biocompatibility, antioxidant activity and collagen photoprotection properties of C60 fullerene adduct with L-methionine

Functionalization of the fullerene core with amino acids has become a new and promising direction in the field of nanochemistry. The biologic activity of water-soluble fullerene derivatives is based on such properties as lipophilicity, electron deficiency and photosensitivity. The complex of above-mentioned properties can be used to develop protection of biomolecules (in particular, proteins) from external physical and chemical influences. Thus, development and up-scaling of synthesis procedures, as well as investigation of the biological properties of these derivatives, are extremely important. This paper presents new data on the biocompatibility studies of C₆₀ fullerene adduct with L-methionine (C₆₀[C₅H₁₁NO₂S]₃; C₆₀-Met). Antiradical activity, binding to human serum albumin (HSA), collagen and deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), hemocompatibility, photodynamic properties, genotoxicity and cytotoxicity were studied. In addition, it was found that C₆₀-Met increases the photostability of the collagen molecule, and this effect is dose-dependent.

Graphene oxide enriched with oxygen-containing groups: on the way to an increase of antioxidant activity and biocompatibility

The article is dedicated to the comprehensive biocompatibility investigation of synthesised graphene oxide (GO) enriched with oxygen-containing functional groups (⁓85%). GO was synthesised through a modified Hummers and Offeman's method and characterised using ¹³C NMR, Raman, and IR spectroscopy, XRD, HRTEM, along with size dimensions and ζ-potentials in aqueous dispersions. Biocompatibility study included tests on haemocompatibility (haemolysis, platelet aggregation, binding to human serum albumin and its esterase activity), antioxidant activity (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl reaction, NO-radical uptake, Radachlorin photobleaching, photo-induced haemolysis), genotoxicity using DNA comet assay, as well as metabolic activity and proliferation of HEK293 cells.

[Influence of immunological parameters on the effectiveness of systemic and loco-regional immunotherapy in disseminated renal carcinoma]

Survival was assessed among patients with disseminated renal carcinoma from different prognostic groups as established by MSKCC protocol. Multivariate evaluation pointed to prognostic value of IL-6 (spontaneous and induced production), IL-8 (spontaneous and induced production),TNF-alpha (spontaneous production), IFN-gamma (induced production), TNK-cells (CD3+CD16+CD56+), and T-regulatory cells (CD4+CD25+Treg). It was demonstrated that additional criteria may be used to evaluate prognosis.

[Role of hormonal profile in adjusting therapy for prostate cancer]

Changes in testosterone, prolactin and estradiol levels were evaluated vis-a-vis outcome and different patterns of androgen suppression--continuous androgen blockade or intermittent therapy--for prostate cancer patients. There was a significant difference between pre- (3.4 +/- 0.5 mM/l) and post- (1.0 +/- 0.3 mM/l) treatment levels of testosterone in cases of tumor progression and that in patients with positive response--(9.1 +/- 0.6 mM/l) and (4.3 +/- 0.4 mM/l), respectively. Relatively low levels of testosterone involved tumor progression. Prolactin level was significantly higher in patients with multiple distant metastases--(18.6 +/- 1.2 microg/l) and isolated foci--(9.5 +/- 0.8 microg/l) while tumor progression was associated with enhancing correlation with PSA concentration. It was established that prolactin level can be used as a criterion for resumption or discontinuation of intermittent therapy. Estradiol dynamics was similar to that of prolactin. The difference between pre- (172.9 +/- 9.8 pM/l) and post- (246.5 +/- 12.8 pM/l) treatment levels of estradiol in cases of tumor progression was significantly higher than that in patients with positive response (85.0 +/- 3.8 pM/l) and (76.9 +/- 4.4 pM/l), respectively.