Toxicity of polyhydroxylated fullerene to mitochondria

Highlights: • Fullerenol-induced mitochondrial dysfunction was investigated at mitochondrial level. • Fullerenol disturbed mitochondrial inner membrane in polar protein regions. • Fullerenol affected the inner membrane and respiration chain of mitochondria. - Abstract: Mitochondrial dysfunction is considered as a crucial mechanism of nanomaterial toxicity. Herein, we investigated the effects of polyhydroxylated fullerene (C₆₀(OH)₄₄, fullerenol), a model carbon-based nanomaterial with high water solubility, on isolated mitochondria. Our study demonstrated that fullerenol enhanced the permeabilization of mitochondrial inner membrane to H⁺ and K⁺ and induced mitochondrial permeability transition (MPT). The fullerenol-induced swelling was dose-dependent and could be effectively inhibited by MPT inhibitors such as cyclosporin A (CsA), adenosine diphosphate (ADP), ruthenium red (RR) and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA). After treating the mitochondria with fullerenol, the mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) was found collapsed in a concentration-independent manner. The fluorescence anisotropy of hematoporphyrin (HP) changed significantly with the addition of fullerenol, while that of 1,6-diphenyl-hexatriene (DPH) changed slightly. Moreover, a decrease of respiration state 3 and increase of respiration state 4 were observed when mitochondria were energized with complex II substrate succinate. The results of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) provided direct evidence that fullerenol damaged the mitochondrial ultrastructure. The investigations can provide comprehensive information to elucidate the possible toxic mechanism of fullerenols at subcellular level.