Deadly Mistake
Nanotubes choke cells
A long perpendicular fiber comes near (green) a cell (blue), senses only its tip, mistakes it for a sphere, and begins engulfing something too long to swallow.
Carbon nanotubes and asbestos fibers may seem small, but they can be a big, and deadly, deal to cells. Now researchers at Brown University in Providence, R.I. know why. Cells swallow the long fibers tip-first, the researchers report online September 18 in Nature Nanotechnology. Rounded tips on the fibers cause the cell's machinery to gear up for swallowing a sphere. Once the cell has begun engulfing the tube it's too late to stop, and the cell essentially chokes. Snipping off the rounded tips caused the tubes to lie flat on the cell surface, leading the researchers to speculate that modifying the ends of such fibers could make them safer. Tina Hesman Saey.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments