Graphene is an exceptionally thin material, a million times thinner than a human hair. The relationship in between nanomaterial, gut microbiome, and resistance has been the subject of the present study performed utilizing zebrafish. The nanomaterial examined was graphene oxide, which can be explained as a relative of graphene that consists of carbon atoms along with atoms of oxygen. Unlike graphene, graphene oxide is soluble in water and of interest to medical research study as, for example, a means of delivering drugs in the body.
A new study published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology has found that the nanomaterial graphene oxide, which is used in a variety of applications including electronic devices and biomolecule sensing units, can indirectly affect the immune system through the gut microbiome in zebrafish.
The nanomaterial graphene oxide– which is used in everything from electronics to sensing units for biomolecules– can indirectly impact the immune system by means of the gut microbiome, as displayed in a brand-new study on zebrafish. The findings are reported in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.
” This shows that we should factor the gut microbiome into our understanding of how nanomaterials impact the immune system,” states the papers matching author Bengt Fadeel, professor at the Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet in Sweden. “Our results are very important for recognizing the possible adverse impacts of nanomaterial and mitigating or preventing such impacts in new materials.”
Graphene is an incredibly thin product, a million times thinner than a human hair. It makes up a single layer of carbon atoms and is stronger than steel yet versatile, transparent, and electrically conductive. This makes it very useful in a multitude of applications, including in “smart” textiles equipped with wearable electronics and as an element of composite materials, to enhance the strength and conductivity of existing materials.
With the increased use of graphene-based nanomaterials comes a requirement to take a look at how these new products impact the body. Nanomaterials are already understood to effect on the immune system, and a few research studies in recent years have revealed that they can also impact the gut microbiome, the bacteria that naturally happen in the intestinal system.
The relationship in between nanomaterial, gut microbiome, and immunity has been the topic of the present study carried out utilizing zebrafish. The nanomaterial investigated was graphene oxide, which can be explained as a relative of graphene that includes carbon atoms together with atoms of oxygen. Unlike graphene, graphene oxide is soluble in water and of interest to medical research as, for instance, a way of delivering drugs in the body.
In the research study, the researchers exposed adult zebrafish to graphene oxide by means of the water and examined how it affects the structure of the microbiome. They utilized both normal fish and fish doing not have a receptor particle in their digestive tract cells called the aryl hydrocarbon receptor, frequently abbreviated as AhR, a receptor for numerous endogenous and bacterial metabolites.
” We had the ability to show that the structure of the gut microbiome altered when we exposed the fish to graphene oxide, even at a low dosage, and that the AhR likewise impacted the gut microbiome,” states the studys first author Guotao Peng, postdoc researcher at the Institute of Environmental Medicine at Karolinska Institutet.
The scientists have actually also created zebrafish larvae that completely lack a natural gut microbiome, which makes it possible to study the effects of individual microbiome elements, in this case, butyric acid (a fat), which is secreted by particular types of gut germs. Butyric acid is understood to be able to bind to AhR.
Doing this, the researchers discovered that the mix of graphene oxide and butyric acid generated so-called type 2 immunity in the fish. The result ended up being depending on the expression of AhR in the digestive tract cells.
” This type of immunity is usually seen as a reaction to parasitic infection. Our analysis is that the gut immune action can manage graphene oxide in a similar way to how it would manage a parasite,” says Guotao Peng.
Using a sophisticated approach for mapping the immune cells, the scientists were also able to show that a component of the body immune system called innate lymphoid cells are found in zebrafish larvae.
” This shows that the zebrafish is an excellent design for studying the body immune system, consisting of the inherent or primitive body immune system,” says Bengt Fadeel.
Recommendation: “Graphene oxide generates microbiome-dependent type 2 immune responses through the aryl hydrocarbon receptor” by Guotao Peng, Hanna M. Sinkko, Harri Alenius, Neus Lozano, Kostas Kostarelos, Lars Bräutigam och Bengt Fadeel, 12 December 2022, Nature Nanotechnology.DOI: 10.1038/ s41565-022-01260-8.
The research study was funded by the Graphene Flagship, an EU task coordinated by Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg.
