Clustered Carbon Nanotubes Damage Endoplasmic Reticulum

Abstract

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have garnered significant attention in recent years due to their unique properties and their wide-range applicability. However, alongside these promising applications, concerns regarding the potential toxicity of CNTs have emerged. In this context, through this work, we have attempted to explore the nanotoxic effect of CNTs over endoplasmic reticular (ER). Using structure illumination and transmission electron microscopies, we unveiled that during endocytosis processes, CNTs form clusters, which lead to fragmentation of the ER structure by puncturing them, thereby inducing potential nanotoxicity. In addition, RNA sequencing data showed that after incubation with CNTs, activating transcription factor 4 (ATF4), a gene responsible for ER stress, was found to be up-regulated. To explore the molecular mechanism, we employed molecular dynamics and coarse-grained simulations and found that clustering of CNTs can significantly increase the speed of lipid extraction, resulting in severe damage.