Water-Soluble, Alanine-Modified Fullerene C60 Promotes the Proliferation and Neuronal Differentiation of Neural Stem Cells

As carbon-based nanomaterials, water-soluble C-60 derivatives have potential applications in various fields of biomedicine. In this study, a water-soluble fullerene C-60 derivative bearing alanine residues (Ala-C-60) was synthesized. The effects of Ala-C-60 on neural stem cells (NSCs) as seed cells were explored. Ala-C-60 can promote the proliferation of NSCs, induce NSCs to differentiate into neurons, and inhibit the migration of NSCs. Most importantly, the Ala-C-60 can significantly increase the cell viability of NSCs treated with hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). The glutathioneperoxidase (GSH-Px) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities and glutathione (GSH) content increased significantly in NSCs treated even by 20 mu M Ala-C-60. These findings strongly indicate that Ala-C-60 has high potential to be applied as a scaffold with NSCs for regeneration in nerve tissue engineering for diseases related to the nervous system.