The increasing applications of graphene oxide (GO) in bio-medicine, environment and other fields enhance the exposure possibility of human beings to GO. Studies have been performed to address the in vitro toxicity of GO; however, little information on the in vivo biological consequence of GO with other common disasters is available, especially when cells are co-exposed to GO and common metal ions. To explore the influence and possible mechanisms of such co-exposure scenarios, a series of tests of cell viability, membrane integrity, reactive oxygen species (ROS), cell morphology, and Cd²⁺ distribution, were conducted. The results showed that the synergistic toxic mechanisms of GO and Cd²⁺, initiated from the adhesion of GO on HeLa cells, and followed by the recruitment of Cd²⁺ ions around the cell membrane, impaired the membrane integrity, morphology and adhesion capability, and triggered cell toxicity. The synergistic toxic mechanism of GO and Cu²⁺ mainly correlated to ROS, while no obvious relationship with membrane integrity was observed. The findings are envisaged to facilitate the application of GO in biology and related fields.

中文翻译：

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含镉和铜离子的氧化石墨烯敷料对细胞的特征性协同细胞毒性作用

氧化石墨烯（GO）在生物医学，环境和其他领域中的越来越多的应用增加了人类接触GO的可能性。已经进行了研究以解决GO的体外毒性。但是，关于GO与其他常见灾害的体内生物学后果的信息很少，尤其是当细胞与GO和常见金属离子共同暴露时。为了探索这种共同暴露场景的影响和可能的机制，进行了一系列细胞活力，膜完整性，活性氧（ROS），细胞形态和Cd ²⁺分布的测试。结果表明GO和Cd ²⁺的协同毒性机制，其起因于GO在HeLa细胞上的粘附，然后在细胞膜周围募集Cd ²⁺离子，损害了膜的完整性，形态和粘附能力，并引发了细胞毒性。GO和Cu ²⁺的协同毒性机制主要与ROS有关，而与膜完整性没有明显的关系。设想该发现将促进GO在生物学和相关领域中的应用。