NanoScience Technology Center, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32826, USA.
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32816, USA.
Int J Mol Sci. 2022 Jan 3;23(1):509. doi: 10.3390/ijms23010509.
Actin plays critical roles in various cellular functions, including cell morphogenesis, differentiation, and movement. The assembly of actin monomers into double-helical filaments is regulated in surrounding microenvironments. Graphene is an attractive nanomaterial that has been used in various biomaterial applications, such as drug delivery cargo and scaffold for cells, due to its unique physical and chemical properties. Although several studies have shown the potential effects of graphene on actin at the cellular level, the direct influence of graphene on actin filament dynamics has not been studied. Here, we investigate the effects of graphene on actin assembly kinetics using spectroscopy and total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy. We demonstrate that graphene enhances the rates of actin filament growth in a concentration-dependent manner. Furthermore, cell morphology and spreading are modulated in mouse embryo fibroblast NIH-3T3 cultured on a graphene surface without significantly affecting cell viability. Taken together, these results suggest that graphene may have a direct impact on actin cytoskeleton remodeling.
肌动蛋白在各种细胞功能中发挥着关键作用，包括细胞形态发生、分化和运动。肌动蛋白单体在周围微环境中的组装受到调节。石墨烯是一种很有吸引力的纳米材料，由于其独特的物理和化学性质，已被用于各种生物材料应用，如药物输送载体和细胞支架。尽管有几项研究表明石墨烯在细胞水平上对肌动蛋白有潜在影响，但石墨烯对肌动蛋白丝动力学的直接影响尚未得到研究。在这里，我们使用光谱法和全内反射荧光显微镜研究了石墨烯对肌动蛋白组装动力学的影响。我们证明，石墨烯以浓度依赖的方式增强肌动蛋白丝生长的速率。此外，在培养于石墨烯表面的小鼠胚胎成纤维细胞 NIH-3T3 中，细胞形态和扩展被调节，而对细胞活力没有显著影响。总之，这些结果表明石墨烯可能对肌动蛋白细胞骨架重塑有直接影响。
