血液蛋白吸附可降低碳纳米管的细胞毒性，由此人体血液系统或可建立针对外来纳米物质的防御方法。近日，美国《国家科学院院刊》（PNAS）在线发表了中科院纳米安全性重点实验室主任赵宇亮等人的这一研究成果。
研究人员在研究碳纳米管与血液系统相互作用过程与其毒理学效应机制时发现，当碳纳米管进入含有人血液蛋白的溶液中时，血液中的主要蛋白（如纤维蛋白原、免疫球蛋白等）会在碳纳米管的表面进行竞争性吸附，形成不同外形的所谓“王冠”形状的蛋白—碳管复合物。此种复合物能降低纳米碳管对不同种类细胞的细胞毒性。这表明碳纳米管在进入体内后，表面容易吸附血液蛋白，从而大大降低其细胞毒性，提高其生物安全性。
近年来，碳纳米管的应用十分广泛，其生物安全性是目前研究较多但也争论较多的问题之一。“纳米安全性被认为是纳米技术走向实际应用的最大瓶颈之一。”赵宇亮表示。此项研究结果被认为对理解碳纳米管及其他纳米颗粒的体内细胞毒性和设计安全的纳米材料具有重要意义。（生物谷 Bioon.com）
doi:10.1073/pnas.1105270108
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Binding of blood proteins to carbon nanotubes reduces cytotoxicity
Ge, Cuicui; Du, Jiangfeng; Zhao, Lina; Wang, Liming; Liu, Ying; Li, Denghua; Yang, Yanlian; Zhou, Ruhong; Zhao, Yuliang; Chai, Zhifang; Chen, Chunying
With the potential wide uses of nanoparticles such as carbon nanotubes in biomedical applications, and the growing concerns of nanotoxicity of these engineered nanoparticles, the importance of nanoparticle–protein interactions cannot be stressed enough. In this study, we use both experimental and theoretical approaches, including atomic force microscope images, fluorescence spectroscopy, CD, SDS-PAGE, and molecular dynamics simulations, to investigate the interactions of single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) with human serum proteins, and find a competitive binding of these proteins with different adsorption capacity and packing modes. The π-π stacking interactions between SWCNTs and aromatic residues (Trp, Phe, Tyr) are found to play a critical role in determining their adsorption capacity. Additional cellular cytotoxicity assays, with human acute monocytic leukemia cell line and human umbilical vein endothelial cells, reveal that the competitive bindings of blood proteins on the SWCNT surface can greatly alter their cellular interaction pathways and result in much reduced cytotoxicity for these protein-coated SWCNTs, according to their respective adsorption capacity. These findings have shed light toward the design of safe carbon nanotube nanomaterials by comprehensive preconsideration of their interactions with human serum proteins.
