title: Rapid fibroblast activation in mammalian cells induced by silicon nanowire arrays.
abstract: Activated tumor-associated fibroblasts (TAFs) with abundant fibroblast activation protein (FAP) expression attract tremendous attention in tumor progression studies. In this work, we report a rapid 24 h FAP activation method for fibroblasts using silicon nanowires (SiNWs) as culture substrates instead of growth factors or chemokines. In contrast with cells cultured on flat silicon which rarely express FAP, SiNW cultivated cells exhibit FAP levels similar to those found in cancerous tissue. We demonstrated that activated cells grown on SiNWs maintain their viability and proliferation in a time-dependent manner. Moreover, environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM) and focused ion beam and scanning electron microscopy (FIB-SEM) analysis clearly revealed that activated cells on SiNWs adapt to the structure of their substrates by filling inter-wire cavities via filopodia in contrast to cells cultured on flat silicon which spread freely. We further illustrated that the expression of FAP was rarely detected in activated cells after being re-cultured in Petri dishes, suggesting that the unique structure of SiNWs may have a certain influence on FAP activation.
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Jilin University, Changchun 130021, People's Republic of China. niufl@jlu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Qing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Ha
authors.forename: Gao
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Zhuo
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Ao
authors.forename: Dong
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Fenglan
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Niu
authors.forename: Shutao
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D010450:Endopeptidases; D005260:Female; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D018093:Gelatinases / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D053770:Nanowires / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000633:toxicity; D012697:Serine Endopeptidases / Q000378:metabolism; D012825:Silicon / Q000737:chemistry*; D000099167:Fibroblast Activation Protein Alpha
chemical_list: D010450:Endopeptidases; D018093:Gelatinases; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D012697:Serine Endopeptidases; D012825:Silicon; D000099167:Fibroblast Activation Protein Alpha