As the production of fullerene nanoparticles rapidly increases, the potential for release into natural aquatic as well as biological environments also increases. In this study, we demonstrated the effects of humic acid and fetal bovine serum (FBS) on the bioavailability of fullerene. Humic acid is ubiquitous in aquatic environment, and fetal bovine serum is representative of blood plasma in living organisms. Bioavailability of fullerene was investigated by<i> in vitro</i> methods for lipid membrane accumulation and cellular uptake studies. The presence of humic acid and FBS significantly changed fullerene characteristics such as particle size and surface charge.  Both humic acid and FBS influenced lipid accumulation of fullerene, which was shown to depend on the charge characteristics of the lipid head groups. The presence of humic acid and FBS effectively decreased fullerene uptake by the Caco-2 cells. Results of this study suggested that surface modification of fullerene by environmentally relevant matrices can significantly affect biological transport as well as possible toxicity of fullerene.

Bioavailability of fullerene in the presence of environmentally relevant matrices: Effects of humic acid and fetal bovine serum (FBS) on the lipid accumulation and cellular uptake

249th National Meeting (2015)

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