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A comparative study on the effects of pristine and functionalized single-walled carbon nanotubes on osteoblasts: ultrastructural and biochemical properties

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Abstract

A comparative study was performed to investigate the ultrastructural and biomolecular properties of osteoblasts induced by three types of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs). The results on cellular uptake and ultrastructural alteration indicate that SWNTs enter osteoblasts by endocytosis. SWNTs-COOH and SWNTs-OH particles were freely dispersed in the cytoplasm, while pristine SWNTs were localized to the periphery of the cell. Both SWNTs-OH and SWNTs-COOH promoted cell changes in cell activity regarding mRNA expression at doses of 50 and 100 μg/mL in the first 24 h. When treated with 50 μg/mL SWNTs-COOH for 48 h, the expression of type I collagen increased by 6.3-fold (for MG63) or 9.1-fold (for primary osteoblasts) compared with the control group. The present study observed for the first time that SWNTs-COOH initiated the prompt and the maximum upregulation of type I collagen gene expression, and simultaneously induced the expansion of the endoplasmic reticulum for increased protein synthesis, which in turn accelerated the mineralization process. However, impaired cell properties and mitochondrial injury were detected following treatment with SWNTs at 100 μg/mL after 48 h. In conclusion, we believe that SWNTs-COOH is a good candidate for the fabrication of biomedical scaffolds for bone regeneration.

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Abbreviations

CNTs:

Carbon nanotubes

MWNTs:

Multi-walled carbon nanotubes

PCL:

Polycaprolacton

SWNTs:

Single-walled carbon nanotubes

ER:

Endoplasmic reticulum

MTS:

Metabolic activity test

TEM:

Transmission electron microscope

COL-I:

Type I collagen

ON:

Osteonectin

Alpase:

Alkaline phosphatase

MEM:

Minimum essential medium

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the major program of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 81190133), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 31300791), the National Basic Science Research Program of China (973 Program) (Grant No. 2011CB606205), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51172172), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (2012-IV-069).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biomedical Materials and Engineering Center, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, 430070, People’s Republic of China

    Qiu Tong, Wu Qingzhi, Dai Honglian, Wang Xinyu, Wang Youfa & Li Shipu

  2. State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, 430070, People’s Republic of China

    Dai Honglian, Wang Xinyu, Wang Youfa & Li Shipu

  3. College of Science, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, 430070, People’s Republic of China

    Li Junli

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  1. Qiu Tong
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Correspondence to Li Junli.

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Tong, Q., Qingzhi, W., Honglian, D. et al. A comparative study on the effects of pristine and functionalized single-walled carbon nanotubes on osteoblasts: ultrastructural and biochemical properties. J Mater Sci: Mater Med 25, 1915–1923 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10856-014-5227-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10856-014-5227-z

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