Nanomechanical mechanism for lipid bilayer damage induced by carbon nanotubes confined in intracellular vesicles

• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1605030113
• Publication Date: 2016-10-18T20:37:54Z
• Authors: Wenpeng Zhu; Annette von dem B...; Xin Yi; Yang Qiu; Zhongying Wang; Paula Weston; Robert H. Hurt; Agnes B. Kane; Huajian Gao
• Keywords: Nanomaterials; Biomolecule; Nanotoxicology

Significance Recent experimental studies report correlations between carbon nanotube toxicity and tube length stiffness. Very little is known, however, about the actual behavior of these fibrous nanomaterials inside living cells following uptake, fundamental mechanistic link stiffness unclear. Here we reveal a nanomechanical mechanism by which sufficiently long stiff nanotubes damage lysosomes, class membrane-enclosed organelles found that are responsible for breaking down diverse biomolecules debris. The precise material parameters needed to activate this unique mechanical pathway identified through coupled theoretical modeling, molecular dynamics simulations, studies, leading predictive pathogenicity classification diagram distinguishes toxic from biocompatible based on their geometry