Investigating the Biological Effect of Multidimensional Ti<sub>3</sub>C<sub>2</sub> (MXene)-Based Nanomaterials through a Metabolomics Approach: a Multidimensional-Determined Alteration in Energy Metabolism
Dingkun Zhang, Xin Li, Wen Zheng, Luolan Gui, Yin Yang, Ang Li, Yueqiu Liu, Tao Li, Cheng Deng, Jingping Liu, Jingqiu Cheng, Hao Yang, Meng Gong
Abstract
Multidimensional Ti3C2 (MXene)-based nanomaterials (m-MBNs, including nanosheets and quantum dots (QDs)) are vitally important transition-metal carbides or carbonitrides with dramatic photothermal activity in cancer therapy in animal models and display potential prospects for practical application. However, detailed bioinformation on multidimensional-induced variations in biocompatibility, metabolic processes, and mechanisms is insufficient. Metabolomics profiling has provided a distinguished alternative with massive bioinformation, which has shed light on the biological response of an organism under exogenous stimuli at the molecular level. In this work, m-MBNs were selected to interact with human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs), among which a metabolomics approach was applied to explore the changes in the HUVECs metabolome. The spatial distribution of metabolites was screened by desorption electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry imaging (DESI-MSI). The results revealed that nonobvious acute cytotoxicity was observed by cell proliferation and apoptosis assays. Comparatively, m-MBNs induced changes in the energy metabolism-related cellular events of HUVECs, while MXene QDs induced significant variation in cell metabolism, which was correlated with the multidimensional-determined mitochondria dysfunction. This work has the potential to evaluate metabolomic changes as a result of exposure to m-MBNs for assessing the biological effect of nanomaterials at the micro level. Moreover, such metabolomics-based profiling could also provide a biological forward expectation of these nanomaterials in future biomedical applications.