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Updated: Feb 27, 2026
Graphene Coatings for Biomedical Implants
Published on: March 1, 2013
MC3T3-E1 pre-osteoblast response and differentiation after graphene oxide nanosheet uptake
Mónica Cicuéndez1, Virgília S Silva2, María J Hortigüela3
1CICECO-Aveiro Institute of Materials, Department of Chemistry, University of Aveiro, Campus Universitario de Santiago, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal; TEMA-Nanotechnology Research Group, Mechanical Engineering Department, University of Aveiro, Campus Universitario de Santiago, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal.
Abstract:
Nano-graphene oxide (GO) and its functionalized derivatives have aroused a great interest for drug delivery, tissue engineering and photothermal cancer therapy, but their biocompatibility has not yet been fully assessed. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the proliferation and differentiation of MC3T3-E1 pre-osteoblasts after the uptake of GO nanosheets (c.a. 400nm), functionalized with poly(ethylene glycol-amine) (PEG) and labelled with fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC). Significant proliferation decrease and apoptosis increase were observed 3days after incorporation of FITC-PEG-GO by MC3T3-E1 cells. However, alterations on healthy pre-osteoblast differentiation into cells exhibiting osteoblast phenotype were not observed, as they showed normal alkaline phosphatase levels and matrix mineralization 12days after nanosheet uptake. The results suggest that 40μg/mL concentrations of these nanosheets would not affect the differentiation of healthy pre-osteoblasts, thus these PEG-GO nanosheets have potential to be used for biomedical applications after their internalization, as the induction of local hyperthermia on bone cancer.
