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Atomic Force Microscopy Study of the Effects of Water‐Soluble Fullerenes on the Elasticity of Living Plant Cells
Author(s) -
Zhang Xuejie,
Liu Qiaoling,
Xia Tie,
Li Nan,
He Kangmin,
Wang Chunru,
Tan Weihong,
Fang Xiaohong
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
chemistry – an asian journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.18
H-Index - 106
eISSN - 1861-471X
pISSN - 1861-4728
DOI - 10.1002/asia.201300522
Subject(s) - fullerene , elastic modulus , young's modulus , elasticity (physics) , atomic force microscopy , chemistry , nanotechnology , biophysics , materials science , chemical engineering , composite material , organic chemistry , biology , engineering
In this work, atomic force microscopy (AFM) was employed to characterize the elastic properties of a living suspension of Nicotiana tabacum L. cv. Bright Yellow (BY‐2) cells and to investigate the changes in plant‐cell elasticity that were induced by water‐soluble C 70 fullerene derivatives. The results revealed different effects of the three fullerene derivatives that had different numbers of carboxylic groups on the cell elasticity. BY‐2 cells that were repressed by dimalonic‐acid‐modified C 70 fullerenes (DiF 70 ) and trimalonic‐acid‐modified C 70 fullerenes (TriF 70 ) showed a clear decrease in their Young′s modulus. However, the Young′s modulus of cells that were treated with tetramalonic‐acid‐modified C 70 fullerenes (TetraF 70 ) increased. Disruption of the actin cytoskeleton arrangement was observed following treatment with DiF 70 and TriF 70 , but not with TetraF 70. Moreover, the fullerene‐induced cell‐elasticity change was consistent with the change in cell‐proliferation rate. This work provides a new approach and valuable information for the study of the biological effect of nanomaterials on plant cells.