Mesoporous silica coated carbon nanofibers reduce embryotoxicity via ERK and JNK pathways

Ghada G Abdo; Ishita Gupta; Hadeel Kheraldine; Balsam Rizeq; Moustafa M Zagho; Ashraf Khalil; Ahmed Elzatahry; Ala-Eddin Al Moustafa

doi:10.1016/j.msec.2021.111910

Mesoporous silica coated carbon nanofibers reduce embryotoxicity via ERK and JNK pathways

Mater Sci Eng C Mater Biol Appl. 2021 Mar:122:111910. doi: 10.1016/j.msec.2021.111910. Epub 2021 Jan 27.

Authors

Ghada G Abdo¹, Ishita Gupta², Hadeel Kheraldine³, Balsam Rizeq⁴, Moustafa M Zagho⁵, Ashraf Khalil⁶, Ahmed Elzatahry⁷, Ala-Eddin Al Moustafa⁸

Affiliations

¹ College of Pharmacy, QU Health, Qatar University, PO Box 2713, Doha, Qatar; Biomedical Research Centre, Qatar University, PO Box 2713, Doha, Qatar. Electronic address: ga1805049@qu.edu.qa.
² Biomedical Research Centre, Qatar University, PO Box 2713, Doha, Qatar; College of Medicine, QU Health, Qatar University, PO Box 2713, Doha, Qatar. Electronic address: ishugupta28@gmail.com.
³ Biomedical Research Centre, Qatar University, PO Box 2713, Doha, Qatar; College of Medicine, QU Health, Qatar University, PO Box 2713, Doha, Qatar. Electronic address: hk1805332@qu.edu.qa.
⁴ Biomedical Research Centre, Qatar University, PO Box 2713, Doha, Qatar; College of Medicine, QU Health, Qatar University, PO Box 2713, Doha, Qatar. Electronic address: balsamr@gmail.com.
⁵ School of Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, MS 39406, United States of America. Electronic address: moustafa.zagho@usm.edu.
⁶ College of Pharmacy, QU Health, Qatar University, PO Box 2713, Doha, Qatar. Electronic address: akhalil@qu.edu.qa.
⁷ Department of Materials Science and Technology Program, College of Arts and Sciences, Qatar University, PO Box 2713, Doha, Qatar. Electronic address: aelzatahry@qu.edu.qa.
⁸ Biomedical Research Centre, Qatar University, PO Box 2713, Doha, Qatar; College of Medicine, QU Health, Qatar University, PO Box 2713, Doha, Qatar. Electronic address: aalmoustafa@qu.edu.qa.

PMID: 33641906
DOI: 10.1016/j.msec.2021.111910

Abstract

Carbon nanofibers (CNFs) have been implicated in biomedical applications, yet, they are still considered as a potential hazard. Conversely, mesoporous silica is a biocompatible compound that has been used in various biomedical applications. In this regard, we recently reported that CNFs induce significant toxicity on the early stage of embryogenesis in addition to the inhibition of its angiogenesis. Thus, we herein use mesoporous silica coating of CNFs (MCNFs) in order to explore their outcome on normal development and angiogenesis using avian embryos at 3 days and its chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) at 6 days of incubation. Our data show that mesoporous silica coating of CNFs significantly reduces embryotoxicity provoked by CNFs. However, MCNFs exhibit slight increase in angiogenesis inhibition in comparison with CNFs. Further investigation revealed that MCNFs slightly deregulate the expression patterns of key controller genes involved in cell proliferation, survival, angiogenesis, and apoptosis as compared to CNFs. We confirmed these data using avian primary normal embryonic fibroblast cells established in our lab. Regarding the molecular pathways, we found that MCNFs downregulate the expression of ERK1/ERK2, p-ERK1/ERK2 and JNK1/JNK2/JNK3, thus indicating a protective role of MCNFs via ERK and JNK pathways. Our data suggest that coating CNFs with a layer of mesoporous silica can overcome their toxicity making them suitable for use in biomedical applications. Nevertheless, further investigations are required to evaluate the effects of MCNFs and their mechanisms using different in vitro and in vivo models.

Keywords: Angiogenesis; Apoptosis; Carbon nanofibers; Chorioallantoic membrane; Embryo; Mesoporous silica; Toxicity.

MeSH terms

Animals
Carbon
Chorioallantoic Membrane
MAP Kinase Signaling System
Nanofibers* / toxicity
Silicon Dioxide / toxicity

Substances

Carbon
Silicon Dioxide