Evaluation of the effects of graphene oxide nanoparticles on MCF-7 cells under NIR irradiation

The development of novel approaches to induce apoptosis in tumour cells remains a key challenge in contemporary biomedicine. Given the exceptional thermal conductivity of graphene, we employed one of its deriva­tives — graphene oxide (GO) — to achieve localised heating of cells under near-infrared (NIR) irradiation in vitro. In this study, graphene oxide nanoparticles coated with either linear (LP-GOs, Ø184 ± 73 nm) or branched (BP-GOb, Ø1376 ± 48 nm) polyethylene glycol were used. The MCF-7 breast adenocarcinoma cell line served as the cancer model. Cells were cultured for 24 hours to allow monolayer formation, after which LP-GOs and BP-GOb nanoparticles were added at final concentrations of 5 and 25 μg/mL. The cells were then irradiated with NIR light using a Hydrosun-750 lamp for 1 hour. Cell viability, nanoparticle sorption / uptake and the rates of early and late apoptosis / necrosis were assessed at 1 and 24 hours post-irradiation. MCF-7 cells exhibited the capacity for sorption of PEGylated graphene oxide nanoparticles, including under conditions of NIR irradiation. After 24 hours of incubation, the proportion of PC7+ (GO-positive) cells reached approximately 10 % at a concentration of 5 μg/mL and 50 % at 25 μg/mL. NIR-irradiated nanoparticles did not produce statistically significant changes in cell viability or apoptosis/necrosis rates. However, a trend towards increased cell death and apoptosis was observed 24 hours post-irradiation.