Hand-ground fullerene-nanodiamond composite for photosensitized water treatment and photodynamic cancer therapy

Hongshin Lee; Jung Seok Lee; Kyle J Moor; Hyoung-Il Kim; Sang-Ryoung Kim; Geondu Gim; Jaesang Lee; Hak-Hyeon Kim; Tarek M Fahmy; Jae-Hong Kim; Changha Lee

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2020.12.020

Hand-ground fullerene-nanodiamond composite for photosensitized water treatment and photodynamic cancer therapy

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2021 Apr:587:101-109. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2020.12.020. Epub 2020 Dec 11.

Authors

Hongshin Lee¹, Jung Seok Lee², Kyle J Moor³, Hyoung-Il Kim⁴, Sang-Ryoung Kim⁵, Geondu Gim¹, Jaesang Lee¹, Hak-Hyeon Kim⁶, Tarek M Fahmy⁷, Jae-Hong Kim⁵, Changha Lee⁸

Affiliations

¹ Department of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering, Korea University, Seoul 02841, Republic of Korea.
² Department of Biomedical Engineering, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA.
³ Institute of Biogeochemistry and Pollutant Dynamics (IBP), Department of Environmental Systems Science, ETH Zurich, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland.
⁴ Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Yonsei University, Seoul, 03722, Republic of Korea.
⁵ Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA.
⁶ School of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Institute of Chemical Process (ICP), and Institute of Engineering Research, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea.
⁷ Department of Biomedical Engineering, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA; Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA; Department of Immunobiology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA.
⁸ School of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Institute of Chemical Process (ICP), and Institute of Engineering Research, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: leechangha@snu.ac.kr.

PMID: 33360882
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2020.12.020

Abstract

The unique capability of fullerene (C₆₀) to absorb light and generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) has been extensively studied for photosensitized water treatment and cancer therapy. Various material synthesis strategies have been proposed in parallel to overcome its intrinsic hydrophobicity and to enhance availability in water and physiological media. We present here a strikingly simple approach to make C₆₀ available to these applications by hand-grinding dry C₆₀ powder with nanodiamond (ND) using a mortar and pestle. The resulting ND-C₆₀ composite was found to form a stable aqueous colloidal suspension and efficiently drive photosensitized production of ROS under visible light illumination. ND-C₆₀ rapidly adsorbed and oxidized organic contaminants by photogenerated ROS. In the experiments for photodynamic cancer therapy, ND-C₆₀ was internalized by cancer cells and induced cell apoptosis without noticeable toxicity. Treatment of tumor-bearing mice with ND-C₆₀ and light irradiation resulted in tumor shrinkage and prolonged survival time.

Keywords: Fullerene C(60); Nanodiamond; Singlet oxygen; Targeted cancer chemotherapy; Water purification.

MeSH terms

Animals
Fullerenes*
Mice
Nanodiamonds*
Neoplasms* / drug therapy
Photochemotherapy*
Water Purification*

Substances

Fullerenes
Nanodiamonds