Biomechanical features of graphene-augmented inorganic nanofibrous scaffolds and their physical interaction with viruses

Michael Gasik*, Roman Ivanov, Jekaterina Kazantseva, Yevgen Bilotsky, Irina Hussainova

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)
150 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Nanofibrous substrates and scaffolds are widely being studied as matrices for 3D cell cultures, and disease models as well as for analytics and diagnostic purposes. These scaffolds usually comprise randomly oriented fibers. Much less common are nanofibrous scaffolds made of stiff inorganic materials such as alumina. Well-aligned matrices are a promising tool for evaluation of behavior of biological objects affected by micro/nano-topologies as well as anisotropy. In this work, for the first time, we report a joint analysis of biomechanical properties of new ultra-anisotropic, self-aligned ceramic nanofibers augmented with two modifications of graphene shells (GAIN scaffolds) and their interaction of three different viral types (influenza virus A, picornavirus (human parechovirus) and potato virus). It was discovered that nano-topology and structure of the graphene layers have a significant implication on mechanical properties of GAIN scaffolds resulting in non-linear behavior. It was demonstrated that the viral adhesion to GAIN scaffolds is likely to be guided by physical cues in dependence on mutual steric factors, as the scaffolds lack common cell membrane proteins and receptors which viruses usually deploy for transfection. The study may have implications for selective viral adsorption, infected cells analysis, and potentially opening new tools for anti-viral drugs development.

Original languageEnglish
Article number164
Pages (from-to)1-18
Number of pages18
JournalMaterials
Volume14
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2021
MoE publication typeA1 Journal article-refereed

Keywords

  • Adherence
  • Alumina
  • Anisotropy
  • Biomechanics
  • Graphene
  • Nanofibers
  • Virions

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