LAUSR

Buckminster fullerenes are distinct allotropic form of carbon that possesses extreme applications ranging from photovoltaics to biomedicine. C60 fullerenes have got unique structural and physic-chemical characteristics similar to graphite ranging from excellent catalytic activity, high ductility, relative chemical inactivity to superconductivity. This provokes the scientific community to choose them as a hot topic of high end productive researches from the past few decades. One major criterion which hinders C60 application in biomedicine is its relative insolubility in water. Also controversial results regarding its toxicity in various cells make the necessity of in-depth and high end suggestive toxicity studies regarding this material. The present study was aimed at two major strategies involving effective stable functionalization of C60 with dextran polysaccharide and to analyse its solubility mediated bio-nano interactions. Characterisation techniques such as FTIR and TEM were used to confirm effective surface stabilisation and morphological characteristics. This was followed by various cytotoxicity studies to evaluate its bio-nano interactions. The results of the study suggest that the dextran stabilised C60 nanoparticles (Dex-C60) is extremely soluble in water (uniform suspension) and was stable up to 72 h. The C6 glial cell- Dex-C60 interactions indicated that the Dex-C60 nanoparticles penetrate deeper into the cells and cause dose dependant toxic response. The result of the study recommended that Dex-C60 nanoparticles should undergo intensive risk assessment before biomedical applications or validated to be safe for medical use.