Cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) have great potential in many areas of research, applications, and future commercialization prospects. Recently, CNCs have emerged as attractive candidates for biomedical applications such as drug and gene delivery systems. As such, cytotoxicity studies have been the major focus in the past decade. However, despite the rod-like nature of CNCs, the potential immune response of surface-modified CNCs is not well investigated. The current study examined the potential immune and antioxidant response induced by CNCs grafted with β -cyclodextrin (CNCs- β -CD) in a human monocyte cell line (THP-1) and a mouse macrophage-like cell line (J774A.1). We analyzed the secretion of the proinflammatory cytokine, interleukin 1 β (IL-1 β ), by ELISA and mitochondria-derived reactive oxygen species (ROS) using fluorescence cell imaging and examined the intracellular levels of proteins involved in the immune and antioxidant response by immunoblotting. Our results indicated a dramatic increase neither in the IL-1 β secretion nor in the mitochondria-derived ROS resulting in no changes in the intracellular antioxidant response in THP-1 cells treated with different concentrations of CNCs- β -CD. Overall, CNCs- β -CD is nonimmunogenic and do not induce an increased antioxidant response under the conditions tested and hence has the potential to be used as a drug delivery carrier.
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Daylight-Active Cellulose Nanocrystals Containing Anthraquinone Structures
Antimicrobial and antiviral materials have attracted significant interest in recent years due to increasing occurrences of nosocomial infections and pathogenic microbial contamination. One method to address this is the combination of photoactive compounds that can produce reactive oxygen species (ROS), such as hydrogen peroxide and hydroxyl radicals to disinfect microbes, with carrier materials that meet the application requirements. Using anthraquinone (AQ) and cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) as the photoactive and carrier components, respectively, this work demonstrated the first covalent incorporation of AQ onto CNCs. The morphology and the photoactive properties were investigated, revealing the structural integrity of the CNCs and the high degree of photoactivity of the AQ-CNC materials upon UVA exposure. The AQ-CNCs also exhibited an unexpected persistent generation of ROS under darkness, which adds advantages for antimicrobial applications.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1808829
- PAR ID:
- 10285354
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Materials
- Volume:
- 13
- Issue:
- 16
- ISSN:
- 1996-1944
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 3547
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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