Graphene, other carbon nanomaterials and the immune system: toward nanoimmunity-by-design
Journal article, 2020
Carbon-based materials (CBMs), such as graphene, nanodiamonds, carbon fibers, and carbon dots, have attracted a great deal scientific attention due to their potential as biomedical tools. Following exposure, particularly intravenous injection, these nanomaterials can be recognized by immune cells. Such interactions could be modulated by the different physicochemical properties of the materials (e.g. structure, size, and chemical functions), by either stimulating or suppressing the immune response. However, a harmonized cutting-edge approach for the classification of these materials based not only on their physicochemical parameters but also their immune properties has been missing. The European Commission-funded G-IMMUNOMICS and CARBO-IMmap projects aimed to fill this gap, developing a functional pipeline for the qualitative and quantitative immune characterization of graphene, graphene-related materials (GRMs), and other CBMs. The goal was to open breakthrough perspectives for the definition of the immune profiles of these materials. Here, we summarize our methodological approach, key results, and the necessary multidisciplinary expertise ranging across various fields, from material chemistry to engineering, immunology, toxicology, and systems biology. G-IMMUNOMICS, as a partnering project of the Graphene Flagship, the largest scientific research initiative on graphene worldwide, also complemented the studies performed in the Flagship on health and environmental impact of GRMs. Finally, we present the nanoimmunity-by-design concept, developed within the projects, which can be readily applied to other 2D materials. Overall, the G-IMMUNOMICS and CARBO-IMmap projects have provided new insights on the immune impact of GRMs and CBMs, thus laying the foundation for their safe use and future translation in medicine.
nanotoxicology
carbon nanotubes
single cell mass cytometry
systems biology
graphene
nanomedicine
nanosafety
Author
Arianna Gazzi
Basque Foundation for Science (Ikerbasque)
Fdn Ist Ric Pediat
University of Trieste
Laura Fusco
Fdn Ist Ric Pediat
University of Trieste
Basque Foundation for Science (Ikerbasque)
Sidra Medicine
Marco Orecchioni
La Jolla Inst Immunol, Div Inflammat Biol
University of Sassari
Silvia Ferrari
University of Sassari
Giulia Franzoni
Ist Zooprofilatt Sperimentale Sardegna
J. Stephen Yan
Rice University
Matthias Rieckher
University of Cologne
Guotao Peng
Karolinska Institutet
Matteo Andrea Lucherelli
University of Strasbourg
Isabella Anna Vacchi
University of Strasbourg
Ngoc Do Quyen Chau
University of Strasbourg
Alejandro Criado
Centro de Investigación Cooperativa en Biomateriales CIC biomaGUNE
Akcan Istif
University of Trieste
Donato Mancino
Centro de Investigación Cooperativa en Biomateriales CIC biomaGUNE
Antonio Dominguez
Centro de Investigación Cooperativa en Biomateriales CIC biomaGUNE
Hagen Eckert
Technische Universität Dresden
Ester Vazquez
University of Castilla, La Mancha
Tatiana Da Ros
University of Trieste
Paola Nicolussi
Ist Zooprofilatt Sperimentale Sardegna
Vincenzo Palermo
Chalmers, Industrial and Materials Science, Materials and manufacture
Bjoern Schumacher
University of Cologne
Gianaurelio Cuniberti
Technische Universität Dresden
Yiyong Mai
Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Cecilia Clementi
Rice University
Matteo Pasquali
Rice University
Xinliang Feng
Technische Universität Dresden
Kostas Kostarelos
University of Manchester
Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2)
Acelya Yilmazer
Ankara Universitesi
Davide Bedognetti
Sidra Medicine
Bengt Fadeel
Karolinska Institutet
Maurizio Prato
University of Trieste
Basque Foundation for Science (Ikerbasque)
Centro de Investigación Cooperativa en Biomateriales CIC biomaGUNE
Alberto Bianco
University of Strasbourg
Lucia Gemma Delogu
Fdn Ist Ric Pediat
University of Sassari
University of Padua
JPhys Materials
2515-7639 (eISSN)
Vol. 3 3 034009Subject Categories
Materials Chemistry
Condensed Matter Physics
DOI
10.1088/2515-7639/ab9317