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Volume 6, Issue 6(Suppl) J Clin Toxicol 2016
ISSN: 2161-0495, JCT an open access journal
Page 41
Notes:
Euro Toxicology 2016
October 24-26, 2016
conferenceseries.com
Toxicology & Applied Pharmacology
October 24-26, 2016 Rome, Italy
7th Euro-Global Summit on
Oxidized graphene exhibits toxicity toward single-celled eukaryotes
Yazan Akkam1, Rob Sleezer2, Ravi Barabote2, Gregory Salamo 2 , Ralph Henry2 and David McNabb 2
1Yarmouk university, Jordan
2University of Arkansas, USA
Graphene possesses physical characteristics ideal for next-generation electronic and photonic devices and is being explored
for medical applications in drug delivery, photo-thermal therapy, and bionic devices. Oxidation and functionalization
of graphene changes its dispersion in aqueous medium and provide methods to tailor its functional properties. The aim of
our study is to evaluate the safety of commercial graphene (CG) and functionalized graphene (FG) by taking advantage of
2 genetically tractable eukaryotic models: Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Candida albicans. The CG and FG samples were
characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. Further, the
toxicity of CG and FG were tested using various assays, including cell growth and cell viability. Cell growth was measured via
microdilution assay, spot plating and measurement of optical density. Cell viability was investigated using various metabolic
assays, propidium iodide staining and growth curves. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy confirmed the oxidation of CG to FG,
and determined the percentage of oxidation. Atomic force microscopy was used to determine the average size of the graphene
particles, while scanning electron microscopy provided a view of particle morphology. All cell growth assays demonstrated
that FG, but not CG, interfered with the growth of both yeast species in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, our data
suggests that exposure of cells to FG, but not CG, is toxic and leads to loss of cell viability. Our next goal is to understand how
cell exposure to FGmay influences genome-wide gene expression, thereby revealing cellular activities sensitive to FG exposure.
Biography
Yazan Akkam has completed his PhD from University of Arkansas and Post-doctoral studies on Nanotoxicity from Institute for Nanosciences and Engineering,
Arkansas. He is the Head of Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculty of Pharmacy, Yarmouk University, Jordan. Also, he is a Member of the National
Committee for the Management of Nanomaterials- Ministry of Environment, Jordan.
Yazan Akkam et al., J Clin Toxicol 2016, 6:6(Suppl)