Trafficking and Subcellular Localization of Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes in Plant Cells

Abstract

Major barriers to delivery of biomolecules are crossing the cellular membranes and achieving a high cytoplasmic concentration by circumventing entrapment into endosomes and other lytic organelles. Motivated by such aim, we have investigated the capability of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) to penetrate the cell membrane of plant protoplasts (plant cells made devoid of their cell walls via enzymatic treatment) and studied their internalization mechanism via confocal imaging and TEM techniques. Our results indentified an endosome-escaping uptake mode of MWCNTs by plant protoplasts. Moreover, short MWCNTs (<100 nm) were observed to target specific cellular substructures including the nucleus, plastids, and vacuoles. These findings are expected to have a significant impact on plant cell biology and transformation technologies.

Interaction of Nanomaterials with Plants: What Do We Need for Real Applications in Agriculture?

“…There are several ways for nanoparticles to achieve this, although such mechanisms are better studied in animal cells and less known in plants (Rico et al, 2011;Schwab et al, 2015): -Endocytosis: The nanoparticles are incorporated into the cell by invagination of the plasma membrane, originating a vesicle that can travel to different compartments of the cell (Etxeberria et al, 2006). -Pore formation: Some nanomaterials can disrupt the plasma membrane, inducing the formation of pores for crossing into the cell (Wong et al, 2016) and reaching directly the cytosol without being encapsulated in any organelle (Serag et al, 2011). -Carrier proteins: Nanoparticles can bind to surrounding proteins, including cell membrane proteins that could act as carriers for internalization and uptake inside the cell (Nel et al, 2009).…”

Highly efficient uptake of ultrafine mesoporous silica nanoparticles with excellent biocompatibility by Liriodendron hybrid suspension cells

“…However, compared with mammalian cells, the plant cell wall which is composed of cross-linked polysaccharides (cellulose, hemicelluloses, and pectin) represents an extra barrier surrounding the cell membrane that hinders the passage of nanoparticles into plant cells. To avoid the inhibiting effects of the plant cell wall, free protoplasts (which are prepared via the removal of the cell wall using cellulase treatments) have been used previously to study the internalization of various nanoparticles (e.g., CdSe/ZnS quantum dots (QDs), polystyrene nanospheres, poly(phenylene ethynelene) nanoparticles, and carbon nanomaterials) [11][12][13]. However, protoplast-based transformation methods hold disadvantages in that the viability of the protoplasts and their ability to divide are strongly reduced by the chemicals that are applied to disorganize the cell wall.…”

Nanobiodevice-based Single Biomolecule Analysis, Single-Cell Analysis, and in vivo Imaging for Cancer Diagnosis, Cancer Theranostics, and iPS Cell-based Regenerative Medicine

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] In this review article, we mainly overview our research activities, including nanobiodevices for single-cell analysis, [20][21][22][23][24][25] single biomolecule analysis, 19,[26][27][28][29]41,46,50,[54][55][56][57][58] biomarker detections, 23,[30][31][32][33]39,[47][48][49] cancer theranostics, and iPS cell in vivo imaging. [20][21][22][23][24][25][34][35][36][37][38]40,[42][43][44][45]…”