We used single-walled carbon nanotubes chemically functionalized with polyethylene glycol (SWCNT-PEG) to assess the effects of this nanomaterial on astrocytic endocytosis and exocytosis. We observed that the SWCNT-PEG do not affect the adenosine triphosphate (ATP)-evoked Ca2+ elevations in astrocytes but significantly reduce the Ca2+-dependent glutamate release. There was a significant decrease in the endocytic load of the recycling dye during constitutive and ATP-evoked recycling. Furthermore, SWCNT-PEG hampered ATP-evoked exocytotic release of the loaded recycling dye. Thus, by functionally obstructing evoked vesicular recycling, SWCNT-PEG reduced glutamate release from astrocytes via regulated exocytosis. These effects implicate SWCNT-PEG as a modulator of Ca2+-dependent exocytosis in astrocytes downstream of Ca2+, likely at the level of vesicle fusion with/pinching off the plasma membrane.
Keywords: Ca2+ dynamics; astrocytes; carbon nanotubes; glutamate release; membrane recycling.