Adverse effects of fullerenes on endothelial cells: fullerenol C60(OH)24 induced tissue factor and ICAM-I membrane expression and apoptosis in vitro.

We studied the effects of a C60 water suspension at 4 microg/mL (nC60) and the water soluble fullerenol C60(OH)24 at final concentrations of 1-100 microg/mL on human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) in culture. We found that a 24 hr treatment of HUVECs with C60(OH)24 at 100 microg/mL significantly increased cell surface expression of ICAM-1(CD54) (67 +/- 4% CD54+ cells vs. 19 +/- 2 % CD540 cells in control; p < 0.