Silk fibroin scavenges hydroxyl radicals produced from a long-term stored water-soluble fullerene system.

Abstract

Fullerene has been investigated for use in intratracheal instillation and inhalation. However, its use may be compromised due to the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) from a long-term stored water-soluble fullerene system, which will result in pulmonary injury. In this study, we investigated the ability of different concentrations of silk fibroin (SF) to scavenge hydroxyl radicals (OH˙) produced by a water-soluble fullerene system. In addition, we elaborated the mechanism of OH˙ formation and scavenging, the degradation of water-soluble fullerene (WSF), and the effects of OH˙ and WSF on the viability of endothelial cells (ECs). WSF was found to rapidly degrade when incubated with SF at 4 °C, which suggested that OH˙ and the deposition of WSF over 5 half-lives might be reduced by mixing WSF with SF. Moreover, it was observed that OH˙ and WSF could generate adverse effects on EC viability, and OH˙ produced by the WSF system on day 55 could be scavenged by SF. Overall, this study indicated that SF as an antioxidant was capable of scavenging OH˙ and accelerating the degradation of WSF, which provides further insight into the application of WSF in intratracheal instillation and inhalation.

• Authors: Qiang Liu , Yanghong Liu , Hongping He , Fan Wang , Danyu Yao , Fangfei He , Haifeng Liu , Yubo Fan
• Journal: Journal of materials chemistry. B (J Mater Chem B) Vol. 6 Issue 5 Pg. 769-780 (Feb 07 2018) ISSN: 2050-7518 [Electronic] England
• PMID: 32254264 (Publication Type: Journal Article)