<p>Comparison of cytocompatibility and anticancer properties of traditional and green chemistry-synthesized tellurium nanowires</p>
Authors: David Medina
Ada Vernet Crua
José Miguel García-Martín
María Ujué González
Bohan Zhang
Yves Huttel
Thomas J Webster
Jorge L Cholula-Díaz
Journal: International Journal of Nanomedicine (2019)
Discipline: PHARMACOLOGY & TOXICOLOGY
Keywords: anticancer; biocompatibility; green chemistry; nanowires; tellurium.
Affiliations: Department of Chemical Engineering, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA, ., Nanomedicine Science and Technology Center, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA, ., Universitat Rovira I Virgili, Tarragona, Spain., Instituto de Micro y Nanotechnologia, IMN-CNM, CSIC (CEI UAM+CSIC), Tres Cantos, Spain., Materials Science Factory, Instituto de Ciencias de Materiales, ICMN-CSIC, Madrid, Spain.

Abstract:  Background: Traditional physicochemical approaches for the synthesis of compounds, drugs, and nanostructures developed as potential solutions for antimicrobial resistance or against cancer treatment are, for the most part, facile and straightforward. Nevertheless, these approaches have several limitations, such as the use of toxic chemicals and production of toxic by-products with limited biocompatibility. Therefore, new methods are needed to address these limitations, and green chemistry offers a suitable and novel answer, with the safe and environmentally friendly design, manufacturing, and use of minimally toxic chemicals. Green chemistry approaches are especially useful for the generation of metallic nanoparticles or nanometric structures that can effectively and efficiently address health care concerns. Objective: Here, tellurium (Te) nanowires were synthesized using a novel green chemistry approach, and their structures and cytocompatibility were evaluated. Method: An easy and straightforward hydrothermal method was employed, and the Te nanowires were characterized using transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray powder diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and optical microscopy for morphology, size, and chemistry. Cytotoxicity tests were performed with human dermal fibroblasts and human melanoma cells (to assess anticancer properties). The results showed that a treatment with Te nanowires at concentrations between 5 and 100 μg/mL improved the proliferation of healthy cells and decreased cancerous cell growth over a 5-day period. Most importantly, the green chemistry -synthesized Te nanowires outperformed those produced by traditional synthetic chemical methods. Conclusion: This study suggests that green chemistry approaches for producing Te nanostructures may not only reduce adverse environmental effects resulting from traditional synthetic chemistry methods, but also be more effective in numerous health care applications. 

Retracted: No

PubPeer comments:
 Figure 11. Maybe I am completely misunderstanding this, but panels A and B appear to be showing the same data, except with the samples flipped. The red line in the left panel (A) looks like the grey line in the right panel (B), and vice versa. Even the error bars appear the same. Could the authors check, please, if this figure was supposed to be like this? ![file] , 
 We are looking into this. , 
 Dear Elisabeth, As one of the main authors of this paper, I do appreciate the time you have taken revising the article, and I do completely agree with you, there is a clear mistake in Fig. 11 for which I apologize in the name of all the authors (including myself). Besides, I do apologize for the time that we have taken to get back to you. Please, allow me to explain the mistake and our effort to correct it. To your original comments u201cFigure 11. Maybe I am completely misunderstanding this, but panels A and B appear to be showing the same data, except with the samples flipped. The red line in the left panel (A) looks like the grey line in the right panel (B), and vice versa. Even the error bars appear the same.u201d I can say that we committed a mistake in the representation of Figure 11. Our initial intention was to include an extension of the data of Figure 10 for 1 day of the experiment, and we ended misplacing the figure with data for 5 days instead of 1 day from one of our old drafts, and even worse, duplicating them in the second panel of the figure. As such, we carried out some other minor mistakes in the main text when discussing such a Figure that will be addressed with the editorial team as well. Please, find attached the corrected Figure 11. and caption ![file] The new caption should read as follows: u201cFigure 11. Comparison between CHEM-TeNWs and GREEN-TeNWs for HDF (A) and melanoma (B) cells at the first day of experiments. Data from MTS assays on HDF and melanoma cells in the presence of TeNWs. Abbreviations: CHEM-TeNWs, chemically synthesized TeNWs; GREEN-TeNWs, green-synthesized TeNWs; HDF, human dermal fibroblasts; TeNWs, tellurium nanowires.u201d The change above implies some additional minor changes in the main text. I hope this reply does satisfy your curiosity and fix your concerns. However, if you need any further clarification, do not hesitate in letting me know here or to my personal work email at medina.dav@northeastern.edu. Besides, as soon as we have either a reply from the editorial team or we notice that the fix has been done in the paper, we will notify you by replying to this comment. Once more, thanks for taking the time to improve our science. , 
 Thank you, Dr. Medina Cruz, for looking into this, and correcting the error. , 
 Corrigendum, June 2021: https: www.dovepress.com corrigendum-comparison-of-cytocompatibility-and-anticancer-properties--peer-reviewed-fulltext-article-IJN  The authors have advised they inadvertently published the wrong image for Figure 11 on page 3166. The correct Figure 11 is shown below. The authors wish to apologize for this error and advise that this does not change the conclusions of the paper. I thank the authors again for quickly responding here on PubPeer, providing a satisfactory explanation, and correcting this error. ,