Fullerenol C60(OH)x influences the tubulin polymerization and cell mitosis

ENVR 75

Hongfang Sun, shf@pku.edu.cn1, YuanKai Li, superlyk@gmail.com1, Yan Zhao, deborazy@163.com1, Xiang Zhang, panda_no1@163.com1, and Yuanfang Liu, yliu@pku.edu.cn2. (1) Department of Chemical Biology, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China, (2) Department of Chemical Biology, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering/Institute of Nanochemistry and Nanobiology, Peking University/Shanghai University, Beijing/Shanghai, 200444, China
C60(OH)x is a water-soluble derivative of C60 fullerene. However, the cytotoxicity of this fullerenol is controversial in previous studies. In this study, the effect of C60(OH)x on tubulin polymerization as well as its influence on the cell cycle is investigated. The turbidity assay and fluorescence assay show that C60(OH)x can inhibit the tubulin assembling into microtubule and the inhibition effect becomes more obvious as the concentration increases. The IC50 is estimated to be 27-70 µg/ml. And, the transmission electron microscopy and fluorescence microscopy observation show that C60(OH)x can induce globular polymerization of tubulin, thus disturbing the formation of the microtubule structure. Moreover, the flow cytometry results show that C60(OH)x affect the proliferation of Hela cells over a concentration of 100 µg/ml and the cell cycle is blocked at the metaphase of mitosis. Therefore, an overdose exposure of C60(OH)x should be avoided for normal tissues and potential usage for tumor cell treatment is suggested.
 

Environmental Behavior and Fate of Manufactured Nanomaterials
1:30 PM-5:30 PM, Monday, April 7, 2008 Morial Convention Center -- Rm. 235, Oral

Division of Environmental Chemistry

The 235th ACS National Meeting, New Orleans, LA, April 6-10, 2008