Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health - Part A: Current Issues, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
Melanoma and glioblastoma are among the most aggressive cancer types, presenting high recurrence rates, therapeutic resistance, and poor prognosis despite conventional approaches. In this context, nanotechnology has emerged as a promising strategy to overcome these limitations. The aim of this study was to (1) synthesize reduced graphene oxide (rGO) and its magnetic analogs (rGO∙Fe3O4), (2) determine the physicochemical characterization, and (3) examine the biological properties. The characteristics of the nanomaterials (NM) were analyzed using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), value stream mapping (VSM), and scanning electron microscope (SEM). These analyses showed the spectral and structural features of rGO and rGO∙Fe3O4. In vitro evaluation demonstrated that the treatments were more toxic to two cancer cell lines, A375 (melanoma) and U87MG (glioblastoma), than HaCaT (non-tumorigenic human keratinocyte). One mechanism of action may be associated with increased production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), as well as enhanced binding energy between rGO and rGO∙Fe3O4, and proteins involved in tumorigenesis. Molecular docking results indicated that rGO exhibited greater potential for interaction with selected proteins. These findings provide a foundation for further studies exploring the potential of rGO and rGO∙Fe3O4 as effective and biocompatible platforms for melanoma and glioblastoma cancer therapy.