Charakterisierung der immunologischen Folgen von Graphen durch Omics-Methoden und genotoxische Analysen

• Antragsteller: Professor Dr. Björn Schumacher
• Fachliche Zuordnung: Statistische Physik, Nichtlineare Dynamik, Komplexe Systeme, Weiche und fluide Materie, Biologische Physik ; Experimentelle Physik der kondensierten Materie ; Zellbiologie
• Förderung: Förderung von 2015 bis 2019
• Projektkennung: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Projektnummer 279055639

• Erstellungsjahr: 2019

Zusammenfassung der Projektergebnisse

Graphene oxide (GO) holds high promise for diagnostic and therapeutic applications in nanomedicine but reportedly displays immunotoxicity, underlining the need for developing functionalized GO with improved biocompatibility. This project provides a description of the adverse effects of GO and amino-functionalized GO (GONH2) during Caenorhabditis elegans development and ageing upon acute or chronic exposure. Chronic GO treatment throughout the C. elegans development causes decreased fecundity and a reduction of animal size, while acute treatment does not lead to any measurable physiological decline. However, RNA-Seq data revealed that acute GO exposure induces innate immune gene expression. The p38 MAP kinase, PMK-1, which is a well-established master regulator of innate immunity, protects C. elegans from chronic GO toxicity, as pmk-1 mutants show reduced tissue-functionality and facultative vivipary. In a direct comparison, GONH2 exposure does not cause detrimental effects in the wild type or in pmk-1 mutants, and the innate immune response is considerably less pronounced. The results of this project establish the enhanced biocompatibility of amino-functionalized GO in a whole-organism, emphasizing its potential as biomedical nanomaterial.

Projektbezogene Publikationen (Auswahl)

• (2019) Improved Biocompatibility of Amino-Functionalized Graphene Oxide in Caenorhabditis elegans. Small (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany) 15 (45) e1902699
  Rive, Corvin; Reina, Giacomo; Wagle, Prerana; Treossi, Emanuele; Palermo, Vincenzo; Bianco, Alberto; Delogu, Lucia Gemma; Rieckher, Matthias; Schumacher, Björn
  
• DNA Damage Response and Immune Defence: Links and Mechanisms. Front. Genet. 2016 Aug 9;7:147
  Nakad R, Schumacher B
  
• A simple answer to complex questions: Caenorhabditis elegansas an experimental model for examining the DNA damage response and disease genes. J. Cell. Physiol. 233, 2781–2790 (2017)
  Rieckher, M., Bujarrabal, A., Doll, M. A., Soltanmohammadi, N. & Schumacher, B.