The effect of 2D tungsten disulfide nanoparticles on Lewis lung carcinoma cells in vitro

The unique physicochemical properties of modern two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterials with graphene-like structures make them promising candidates for biology and medicine purposes. In this article, we investigate the influence of the two-dimensional tungsten disulfide (2D WS(2)) water suspension nanoparticles obtained by an improved mechanochemical method from powdered WS(2) on morphological and structural characteristics of Lewis lung carcinoma cells using FT-IR, Raman spectroscopy, and confocal microscopy. The characterization of the 2D WS(2) nanoparticles by different physical methods is given also. We have highlighted that 2D WS(2) does not exert cytotoxic activity in the case of 1 day incubation with tumor cells. Prolongation of the incubation period up to 2 days has caused a statistically significant (p < 0.05) concentration-dependent decrease of the number of viable cells by more than 30% with the maximum cytotoxic effect at concentrations of 2D WS(2) close to 2 μg ml(−1). In the Raman spectra of 2D WS(2) treated cells the bands centered at 354 cm(−1) and 419 cm(−1), which are assigned to characteristics and modes of WS(2) nanoparticles were observed. The obtained data indicate, that the cytotoxic effect of 2D WS(2) on tumor cells in the case of long-term incubation is realized particularly through the ability of 2D WS(2) to enter tumor cells and/or accumulate on their surface, which gives a rationale to conduct further studies of their antitumor efficacy in vitro and in vivo when combined with chemotherapeutic drugs.