Nanometabolomics Elucidated Biological Prospective of Mo4/3B2–x Nanosheets: Toward Metabolic Reprogramming of Amino Acid Metabolism

Mo4/3B2–x nanosheets are newly developed, and 2D transition metal borides (MBene) were reported in 2021, but there is no report on their further applications and modification; hence, this article sheds light on the significance of potential biological prospects for future biomedical applications. Therefore, elucidation of the biocompatibility, biotoxicology, and bioactivity of Mo4/3B2–x nanosheets has been an urgent need to be fulfilled. Nanometabolomics (also referred as nanomaterials-based metabolomics) was first proposed and utilized in our previous work, which specialized in interpreting nanomaterials-induced metabolic reprogramming through aqueous metabolomics and lipidomics approach. Hence, nanometabolomics could be considered as a novel concept combining nanoscience and metabolomics to provide bioinformation on nanomaterials' biomedical applications. In this work, the safe range of concentration (<50 mg/L) with good biosafety toward human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) was discovered. The low concentration (5 mg/L) and high concentration (50 mg/L) of Mo4/3B2–x nanosheets were utilized for the in vitro Mo4/3B2–x-cell interaction. Nanometabolomics has elucidated the biological prospective of Mo4/3B2–x nanosheets via monitoring its biocompatibility and metabolic shift of HUVECs. The results revealed that 50 mg/L Mo4/3B2–x nanosheets could lead to a stronger alteration of amino acid metabolism with disturbance of the corresponding amino acid-related pathways (including amino acid metabolism, amino acid degradation, fatty acid biosynthesis, and lipid biosynthesis and metabolism). These interesting results were closely involved with the oxidative stress and production of excess ROS. This work could be regarded as a pathbreaking study on Mo4/3B2–x nanosheets at a biological level, which also designates their further biochemical, medical, and industrial application and development based on nanometabolomics bioinformation.