Biological Evaluation of Graphene Quantum Dots and Nitrogen-Doped Graphene Quantum Dots as Neurotrophic Agents

Overtime, developments in nano-biomedical research have led tothe creation of a number of systems to cure serious illnesses. Tandemuse of nano-theragnostics such as diagnostic and therapeutic approachestailored to the individual disease treatment is crucial for furtherdevelopment in the field of biomedical advancements. Graphene hasgarnered attention in the recent times as a potential nanomaterialfor tissue engineering and regenerative medicines owing to its biocompatibilityamong the several other unique properties it possesses. The zero-dimensionalgraphene quantum dots (GQDs) and their nitrogen-doped variant, nitrogen-dopedGQDs (N-GQDs), have good biocompatibility, and optical and physicochemicalproperties. GQDs have been extensively researched owing to severalfactors such as their size, surface charge, and interactions withother molecules found in biological media. This work briefly elucidatesthe potential of electroactive GQDs as well as N-GQDs as neurotrophicagents. In vitro investigations employing the N2A cell line were usedto evaluate the effectiveness of GQDs and N-GQDs as neurotrophic agents,wherein basic investigations such as SRB assay and neurite outgrowthassay were performed. The results inferred from immunohistochemistryfollowed by confocal imaging studies as well as quantitative real-timePCR (qPCR) studies corroborated those obtained from neurite outgrowthassay. We have also conducted a preliminary investigation of the patternof gene expression for neurotrophic and gliotrophic growth factorsusing ex vivo neuronal and mixed glial cultures taken from the brainsof postnatal day 2 mice pups. Overall, the studies indicated thatGQDs and N-GQDs hold prospect as a framework for further developmentof neuroactive compounds for relevant central nervous system (CNS)purposes.