What is Carbon 60?

What is Carbon 60?

Carbon 60 is a molecule of 60 carbon atoms, shaped like a football. C60 is a stable molecule formed by a combination of carbon atoms. It has 60 vertices and 32 faces, of which 12 are regular pentagons and 20, are regular hexagons. Its relative molecular mass is about 720.

Structure and composition of C60

C60 is a carbon clusters. When the 60 C atoms are arranged in space, they form a most stable spatial arrangement of chemical bonds, which coincides with the arrangement of the football surface. Fuller designed a spherical thin-shell structure made up of hexagons and pentagons.

C60 was discovered in 1985 by three researchers (Harold Kroto, Robert Curl, Richard Smalley). They can be produced naturally and in small amounts in burns, in flashes through the atmosphere, or artificially, such as in the vaporization of graphite in an atmosphere of neutral gas.

Mathematically, the structure of C 60 is a convex polyhedron composed of a pentagon and a hexagonal surface. The smallest fullerene is C 20 and has a regular dodecahedral structure. There are no 22 vertices of C 60. Both C2n fullerenes are present, n = 12, 13, 14.... In some of the small C 60, there are pentagon adjacent structures. C 60 is the first fullerene without adjacent pentagons, the next one being C 70. In higher C 60, the Isolated Pentagon Rule (IPR) is generally satisfied, that is, when n> 12, there is no adjacent pentagonal structure.

To date, more than 1,300 fullerene scientific studies have been published, including a major one with high-hop rats that continues to be talked about ...

How is Carbon 60 applied in health?

C60 increases longevity by 90% in a middle-aged rat

Compared to calorie restriction or rapamycin-based treatment, which increases life expectancy by 15 to 20% (which is already enormous), supplementation with C60 increases rodent life expectancy by 90%! This extremely important result is the fruit of a study published in April 2012 led by Professor Fathi Moussa and Tarek Baati who have used long-term suspensions of C60 in olive oil. They have found that, in addition to their total absence of toxicity, its administration has almost doubled the life expectancy of rats and that none of them, compared to the control rats,

The toxicity of C60 was tested by suspending it in olive oil (0.8 mg par ml). This has proven to be its best transporter and is particularly a perfect solution as the C60, which is lipophilic, dissolves very poorly in water. The researchers have thus determined that it is completely free of toxicity, with doses that can range up to 1.7 mg / kg body weight.

An exceptional ability to fight against oxidative stress:

• These spectacular effects were produced by the reduction of oxidative stress, but also by its remarkable and total absorption in the gastrointestinal tract and its complete disappearance in the ten hours following its absorption. The C60 is excreted mainly by the bile and not by the urine.

• A preliminary study published in 2008 had already shown that not only did it allow mice to increase their lifespan, but it also limited their age-related cognitive deficiency.

• Another study in 2011 also demonstrated its positive impact on the growth and life of primitive organisms such as green algae or various species of the fungus Aspergillus.

A Strong Cell Penetration Capability:

• The C60 behaves like a potent antioxidant because of its large number of double bonds. But its ability to easily penetrate the very inside of cells, their core and their mitochondria, makes it the most effective scavenger of free radicals in the world! Promising against the neurodegenerative diseases

• The C60, due to its small size, easily penetrates the hematoencephalic barrier. This incredible property can lead to numerous medical applications, especially in the field of nanomedicine, by developing new active compounds that can be used by the brain. The C60 thus turns out to be a very promising substance in the treatment of various disorders of neurons.

• Recent studies show that it delays the symptoms of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and its antioxidant capabilities suggest it has effects that protect neurons from degenerative Parkinson's disease. The C60 is indeed capable of eliminating the superoxide anion and the hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and effectively inhibiting the peroxidation of the lipids.

• The C60 could even be considered as an active element in the treatment of Alzheimer's, as the researchers have shown that it has resisted the aggregation of the beta-amyloid proteins and the degeneration of the pyramidal neurons of the hippocampus. This could lead to the development of new drugs targeted to the brain, associated with antioxidant properties and inhibitors of aggregation.

Killing effect of cancer cells

C 60 has a high yield of singlet oxygen after photoexcitation, and singlet oxygen has important relationship with physiological and biochemical functions, tissue damage, tumor and actinic treatment techniques of living organisms. When the excitation light intensity of C 60 reaches 4000 lx, the cancer cells are nearly 100% dead by the action of singlet oxygen, so it can effectively destroy the plasma membrane and the intracellular mitochondrial medium and nuclear membrane. The structure of cancer cells, which leads to damage and even death of cancer cells. Other studies have pointed out that antibodies to tumor cells can be attached to C 60 molecules, and then C 60 molecules with antibodies can be directed to tumors, and the purpose of killing tumor cells can also be achieved.

Cause DNA cleavage

Nucleic acid contains biological genetic information and is an important class of biomolecules. It includes two types of DNA and ribonucleic acid RNA. The fission of DNA will cause apoptosis and cause the organism to mutate. Fullerene has photophysical properties, has a deep color, and exhibits rich photochemical behavior in the UV and visible regions. Under the excitation of light, the triplet C 60 can generate about one unit of energy, which can be formed by energy conversion. The triplet also oxidizes the electron-rich substrate. It has been found that fullerene derivatives have the ability to specifically cleave DNA.

Of course, the cleavage of DNA can also cause apoptosis of a diseased or abnormally increasing cell. By attaching a targeted functional group, it is possible to cause the action of C 60 to occur at a specific site, which provides for the treatment of certain cancers and some intractable diseases. A new approach, from the singlet oxygen 1O 2 to the single electron transfer mechanism, marks the deep understanding of the mechanism of action, with the further revealing of the mechanism of C 60, it will certainly give C 60 and their derivatives The application of DNA in DNA cleavage has far-reaching effects.

Antiviral effect

Human immunodeficiency protease (HIV-1`protease HIVP) is considered to be the main inhibitor of antiviral therapy. Fullerene has the effect of inhibiting HIVP activity, and inhibition of HIVP activity is the key to research and treatment of AIDS. The active part of HIVP can be approximated as an open cylinder, linearly arranged with hydrophobic amino acids. The radius of the linear cylinder is almost the same as that of a C 60 molecule, but since the fullerene molecule is non-polar, it is prepared into after water-soluble C 60 or its derivatives; it can be inserted into the active center of HIVP. The hydrophobic portion of the C60 derivative binds to the active site of HIVP, and the hydrophilic moiety (polar group) forms a salvation layer on the surface of the membrane, blocking the active center of HIVP, thereby inhibiting HIVP.

For the production of bioactive materials

Nelson et al. reported that C 60 has potential tumor toxicity to the voles of voles. Baier et al. believe that there is an interaction between C 60 and superoxide anion. In 1993, Friedman et al. theoretically predicted that certain C 60 derivatives would have the effect of inhibiting human immunodeficiency protease HIVP activity, and the key to AIDS research is to effectively inhibit HIVP activity. Japanese scientists have reported that a water-soluble C 60carboxy derivative has the property of inhibiting toxic cell growth and DNA cracking under visible light irradiation, and opens up a broad prospect for the application of C 60 derivatives to photodynamic therapy. In 1994 Toniolo et al reported a water soluble Note C 60 - polypeptide derivative may chemotaxis inhibition of HIV-1 protease and both have potential applications in human mononuclear leukocytes Huangwen Dong et al. Obtain a water soluble C 60 - lipid Body, found that it has a strong killing effect on cancer cells. Taiwanese scientists reported that the polyhydroxy C 60 derivative, Fulleren, has the effect of phagocytizing superoxide anion radicals produced by xanthine/ xanthine oxidase, and also has excellent scavenging effects on hydroxyl radicals with strong destructive ability. Using the radiation resistance of C 60 molecules, the injection of radioactive elements into a carbon cage can increase the efficacy of radiation therapy and reduce side effects.

Scavenging free radicals

C60 is referred to as a sponge that absorbs free radicals. In some cases, organisms require active oxygen to complete physiological processes such as phagocytic bacteria, prothrombin synthesis, and detoxification of liver foreign poisons. However, in many cases, when the accumulation of active oxygen is excessive, damage will occur. For example, oxygen free radicals and H 2 O 2 can damage the cell membrane, causing some cells to become necrotic. Many diseases have been found to be triggered by oxygen free radicals, and the body is aging. Also closely related to this, Chiang et al. reported that the water-soluble polyhydroxyfullerene derivative fullerenols has a good effect on eliminating the superoxide produced by xanthine and xanthine oxidase, which is more than the parent C60, reduces their inherent biological toxicity. Some fullerene alcohols with electron affinity are suitable reagents for free radical removal and water-

soluble antioxidants in biological systems to reduce the concentration of free radicals in diseased blood and to inhibit the growth of abnormal or diseased cells. Tests have shown that when the concentration of folderol in the solution is 50 mg / L, the removal rate of superoxyl can reach 80%, and the presence of fullerenol also shows the oxidation of xanthine by spectral absorption test and chemiluminescence test. The amount of uric acid produced has no effect, which means that it has no inhibitory effect on xanthine oxidase and directly inhibits the superoxyl group.

Toxicity analysis

After the toxicological study of a large dose of C 60 in the peritoneal cavity of the organism, the scientists found no evidence that the mice were poisoned after the injection of 5000 mg/kg (weight) C 60 dose. No poisoning, genotoxicity or mutagenicity was found after oral administration of a dose of 2000 mg/kg of a mixture of C 60 and C 70 to rodents . Other studies have also shown that C 60 and C 70 are non-toxic.

Other scientists have found that injection of C 60 suspension does not cause acute or sub-acute toxicity to rodents, but a certain dose of C60 protects their liver from free radical damage. A recent study in 2012 showed that oral C 60 can double the lifespan of mice without any side effects. Professor Moussa studied the nature of C 60 for 18 years and published the article "Continuous feeding of mice C60 to extend their lifespan." In October 2012, he announced in a video interview that pure C 60 was not toxic.

Since the discovery of fullerenes, there is no clear evidence that C 60 is toxic, but some scientists have injected carbon nanotubes into the abdominal cavity of mice to find asbestos-like lesions. However, this study is not an inhalation study. Although there have been toxicological experiments on the inhalation studies of nanotubes before this, it has not been confirmed by this study that carbon nanotubes have asbestos-like toxicological properties. Inhalation of C 60 (OH) 24 or nano C 60 by mice has no toxic side effects, and in the same case, injecting quartz particles into mice causes intense inflammation.

Nanotubes are very different from C 60 in terms of chemical and physical properties (solubility) such as molecular weight, shape, size, etc. Therefore, from the toxicological point of view, there is no correlation between the differences in the toxicological properties of C 60 and carbon nanotubes. . When analyzing toxicity data, it is necessary to distinguish different molecules of fullerenes: (C 60 , C 70 ...); fullerene derivatives: C 60 or other chemically modified fullerene derivatives; fullerene complexes ( For example, surfactant-assisted water-soluble fullerene, such as C 60 - polyvinylpyrrolidone ; host-guest complexes, such as with cyclodextrin or porphyrin ), in which case C 60 are passed with other molecules Supramolecularinteraction with other molecules; C 60 nanoparticles, this is C 60The crystallites are aggregated along the solid phase; and the larger molecular weight non-spherical carbon nanotubes.