Figure 6.
Antioxidant-based nanoparticle PEGylated hydrophilic carbon clusters (PEG-HCCs) prevent hemin-induced genome damage but not cytotoxicity. (a) Chemical structure of PEG-HCCs generated by a DCC coupling reaction. (b) Validation of antioxidant activity of the PEG-HCC preparation in bEnd.3 cells (mouse brain endothelial cells). PEG-HCC effectively sequestered hemin-induced ROS levels. (c and d) Effect of PEG-HCC on the hemin-induced increase in γH2AX and p-ATM levels in bEnd.3 cells, as analyzed by IB. Quantitation of IB band intensity. (e) Analysis of cell viability in b.End3 cells treated with hemin and PEG-HCC. PEG-HCC partially prevented hemin-induced cell death. Results are represented as mean ± SEM from three independent experiments. *p < 0.01, **p < 0.05. Scale bar, 10 μm.