Cytotoxicity of PEGylated graphene oxide on lymphoma cells

Graphene oxide (GO) is a hotspot, especially in the field of biomedical. However, the clinical application of GO is still faces a lot of challenges. In order to improve the solubility and biocompatibility of GO, polyethylene glycol (PEG) was grafted on the surface of graphene oxide by amide reaction. PEGylated graphene oxide (PEG-GO) was characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The stability of PEG-GO detected in different solutions. Raji cell was selected as a lymphoma cell model to study the cytotoxicity of PEG-GO. Cell viability was detected using the Cell Counting Kit-8 assay. Cells were treated with different concentrations (10-100 μg/mL) of PEG-GO at different time points (6, 12, and 24 h). The FTIR spectrum of PEG-GO indicated that polyethylene glycol was successfully grafted onto GO. PEG-GO had excellent stability in all solutions. Cells treated with PEG-GO (10-100 μg/mL) for 24 hours had survival rates were over 80%. These results demonstrate that PEG-GO had an excellent dispersion in biological solutions and the toxicity of PEG-GO to lymphoma cells was low. The paper may provide cytological evidence for the application of PEG-GO in medicine.