Diamond, graphite, and graphene oxide nanoparticles decrease migration and invasiveness in glioblastoma cell lines by impairing extracellular adhesion

Mateusz Wierzbicki,1 SÅ‚awomir Jaworski,1 Marta Kutwin,1 Marta Grodzik,1 Barbara Strojny,1 Natalia Kurantowicz,1 Krzysztof Zdunek,2 RafaÅ‚ Chodun,2 André Chwalibog,3 Ewa Sawosz1 1Division of Nanobiotechnology, Warsaw University of Life Science, 2Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering, Warsaw University of Technology, Warsaw, Poland; 3Department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Frederiksberg, Denmark Abstract: The highly invasive nature of glioblastoma is one of the most significant problems regarding the treatment of this tumor. Diamond nanoparticles (ND), graphite nanoparticles (NG), and graphene oxide nanoplatelets (nGO) have been explored for their biomedical applications, especially for drug delivery. The objective of this research was to assess changes in the adhesion, migration, and invasiveness of two glioblastoma cell lines, U87 and U118, after ND, NG, and nGO treatment. All treatments affected the cell surface structure, adhesion-dependent EGFR/AKT/mTOR, and β-catenin signaling pathways, decreasing the migration and invasiveness of both glioblastoma cell lines. The examined nanoparticles did not show strong toxicity but effectively deregulated cell migration. ND was effectively taken up by cells, whereas nGO and NG strongly interacted with the cell surface. These results indicate that nanoparticles could be used in biomedical applications as a low toxicity active compound for glioblastoma treatment. Keywords: diamond, graphene oxide, graphite, nanoparticles, glioblastoma, migration, invasiveness