I. I. Grynyuk

Anti‐oxidant Properties of C60 Fullerenes in vitro

C60 fullerenes at concentration 10−5 M show a protective effect on apoptotic H2O2–treated thymocytes, restoring the level of GSH in cytoplasm and increasing the activity of electron‐transport chain in mitochondria. The protective of C60 fullerenes most probably results from it ability to incorporate into cell membrane and to prevent lipid peroxidation.

Using water-soluble C60 fullerenes in anticancer therapy

Growth experiments of transplanted malignant tumors in the presence of water-soluble C60 fullerenes were performed on groups of mice. It was found that C60 fullerenes efficiently inhibit the growth of transplanted malignant tumors. This behavior can be explained through their high antioxidant activity and the blocking of the specific cell receptors (for example, endothelial growth factor). The findings demonstrate the possibility of using C60 fullerenes in anticancer therapy.

Biological Effects of C60 Fullerenes in vitro and in a Model System

With the use of artificial lipid membranes, it is shown that C60 fullerenes are capable to penetrate into a lipid bilayer, by locally strengthening its conductivity. C60 fullerenes under the UV/VIS and X-ray irradiation do not influence the MTT reduction and the DNA structure in thymocytes. UV/VIS irradiated C60 fullerenes give rise to the DNA fragmentation and a decrease of the viability of ascitic Erlich carcinoma cells.

Biophysical studies of fullerene-based composite for bio-nanotechnology

Abstract The UV absorption and fluorescence spectra of biological samples and the DNA structural state in cells under X-ray irradiation in the presence of the fullerene-containing composite, synthesized on the basis of aminopropylaerosil, were investigated and analysed in detail. The significant pro-oxidant effect of the fullerene-containing composite at the low concentration of fullerene C60 (10−5 M) was revealed.

Therapeutic reactive oxygen generation

An increase of the intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) concentration leads to the development of oxidative stress and, thus, to the damage of cell components. The cause-and-effect relations between these processes have not been fully established yet. The ability of photo excited supramolecular composites containing fullerenes C60 immobilized at nanosilica particles to generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) in cells of two types (rat thymocytes, and transformed cells of ascite Erlich carcinoma, EAC, and leucosis L1210) is demonstrated. The damaging effect of photo excited C60-composites are shown, which appeared to be selective and manifested in transformed cells, but not in thymocytes. It has been shown that after the irradiation of aqueous solutions or cell suspensions in the presence of fullerene C60, the generation of reactive oxygen species is observed. It has been shown that the influence of photo excited fullerene C60 on metabolic processes depends on the composition of C60-containing complex and on the type of the cells. The damaging effects of photo excited fullerene C60-containing composites were demonstrated to be selective. The data presented suggest that the application of fullerene C60-containing composites for the selective activation of ROS-dependent death program in certain types of tumor cells is very promising.

Effects of Photoexcited Fullerene C60-Composites in Normal and Transformed Cells

The supramolecular composites containing fullerenes C60 immobilized at nanosilica were used for the design of the molecular systems that can be an effective agent in cancer photodynamic therapy (PDT). In particular, it was shown that photoexcited fullerene C60-containing composites decrease viability of transformed cells, intensify the process of lipid peroxidation (LPO) in cell membranes and accumulation of low-molecular weight DNA fragments, and also decrease the activity of electron-transport chain of mitochondria.