Effect of different water-soluble forms of fullerene C^sub 60^ on the metabolic activity and ultrastructure of cells in culture

In view of contradictory data on the toxicity of fullerenes for living organisms we studied the effect of water-soluble complexes of C^sub 60^ with N-polyvinylpyrrolidone (C^sub 60^/PVP) and γ-cyclodextrin (C^sub 60^/γ-CD) on MA-104 cells in culture. Both complexes proved to be nontoxic for cultured cells in the dark in a wide range of concentrations. Both complexes provoke changes of cell ultrastructure that reflect enhancement of metabolic activity. At the same time only the exposition with C^sub 60^/PVP leads to substantial growth of the number and size of mitochondria. However, the effect of two studied water-soluble forms of C^sub 60^ under intense UV irradiation of cells proved to be opposite: C^sub 60^/PVP had a cytoprotective action while C^sub 60^/γ-CD caused a significant growth of phototoxicity. Possible reasons of the differences in the action of different forms of C^sub 60^ on living organisms are discussed.[PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]