THE IMPACT OF GRAPHENE OXIDE NANOPARTICLES ON THE EXPRESSION OF ENDOPLASMIC RETICULUM STRESS-DEPENDENT GENES IS MORE PRONOUNCED IN NORMAL HUMAN ASTROCYTES THAN GLIOBLASTOMA CELLS

Aim. The purpose of the study was to investigate the impact of graphene oxide nanoparticles on the expression of a subset of ER stress-dependent genes in normal human astrocytes in comparison with glioblastoma cells depending on the knockdown of ERN1. Material and Methods. The culture plates with normal human astrocytes (NHA/TS) and glioblastoma cells (sublines of U87MG) were exposed to two doses of GO nanoparticles (1 and 4 ng/ml of medium) for 24 h. Total RNA was extracted from normal human astrocytes and glioblastoma cells using the TRIzol reagent. The expression level of genes related to cell proliferation was studied by real-time qPCR. Statistical analysis of the results was performed according to the widely accepted methods of variational statistics. Results. GO nanoparticles strongly upregulated the expression level of ATF3, ATF4 and TOB1 mRNA in both normal human astrocytes and glioblastoma cells, but normal cells were more sensitive to the genotoxic action of GO nanoparticles than glioblastoma cells. That changes in studied gene expressions possibly reflect the genotoxic and neurotoxic effects of these unique carbon nanoparticles. Conclusion. GO nanoparticles demonstrate a more pronounced dose-dependent effect on the expression of genes responsible for ER stress, cell proliferation, and cancerogenesis in normal human astrocytes than glioblastoma cells.