2 research outputs found
Ionic Liquids and their Toxicity on the Enzyme Activity and Stability
Molecular interactions are crucial between the enzyme molecules and the surrounding solution in an enzymatic catalysis. Although aqueous solutions used as conventional enzymatic reaction media, non-aqueous enzymology emerges as a major area of biotechnology research and development. Ionic liquids, as new generation of promising alternatives to traditional organic solvents, possess potential industrial enzymatic applications. Enzymes in ionic liquids present enhanced activity, stability, and selectivity. In addition, the potential of ionic liquids in bio-catalysis is raised by high ability of dissolving a wide variety of substrates and their extensively tunable solvent properties through appropriate modification of the cations and anions. However, despite the bio-friendly nature of ionic liquids for enzymatic reactions, their growing interests increase concerns associated with toxicity and environmental pollution of such compounds. This mini-review presents a brief highlight of the contemporary knowledge of enzymes activity and stability in ionic liquids and the environmental influences regarding the potential risks related to the growing applications of these green solvents.HIGHLIGHTS•Conventional organic solvents can be replaced by ionic liquids as green solvents.•Ionic liquids are used as additives, catalysts, or reaction media in industries.•Advantages and disadvantages of ionic liquids are discussed.•Potential environmental hazards linked to application of ionic liquids are highlighted.•The environmental fate needs to be considered in designing safer ionic liquids
A Systematic Review of the Genotoxicity and Antigenotoxicity of Biologically Synthesized Metallic Nanomaterials: Are Green Nanoparticles Safe Enough for Clinical Marketing?
Abstract: Background and objectives: Although studies have elucidated the significant biomedical potential
of biogenic metallic nanoparticles (MNPs), it is very important to explore the hazards associated with
the use of biogenic MNPs. Evidence indicates that genetic toxicity causes mutation, carcinogenesis, and
cell death. Materials and Methods: Therefore, we systematically review original studies that investigated
the genotoxic effect of biologically synthesized MNPs via in vitro and in vivo models. Articles were
systematically collected by screening the literature published online in the following databases; Cochrane,
Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, Science Direct, ProQuest, and EBSCO. Results: Most of the studies
were carried out on the MCF-7 cancer cell line and phytosynthesis was the general approach to
MNP preparation in all studies. Fungi were the second most predominant resource applied for MNP
synthesis. A total of 80.57% of the studies synthesized biogenic MNPs with sizes below 50 nm. The
genotoxicity of Ag, Au, ZnO, TiO2, Se, Cu, Pt, Zn, Ag-Au, CdS, Fe3O4, Tb2O3, and Si-Ag NPs was
evaluated. AgNPs, prepared in 68.79% of studies, and AuNPs, prepared in 12.76%, were the two most
predominant biogenic MNPs synthesized and evaluated in the included articles. Conclusions: Although
several studies reported the antigenotoxic influence of biogenic MNPs, most of them reported biogenic
MNP genotoxicity at specific concentrations and with a dose or time dependence. To the best of our
knowledge, this is the first study to systematically evaluate the genotoxicity of biologically synthesized
MNPs and provide a valuable summary of genotoxicity data. In conclusion, our study implied that
the genotoxicity of biologically synthesized MNPs varies case-by-case and highly dependent on the
synthesis parameters, biological source, applied assay, etc. The gathered data are required for the
translation of these nanoproducts from research laboratories to the clinical market.
Keywords: genotoxicity; biosynthesis; metal nanoparticles; systematic revie