Aim: The aim of this work is the dissection of the molecular pathways underlying the differentiation effect of reduced graphene oxide (GO) materials in the absence of differentiation agents.
Materials & methods: Reduced GO is obtained either by drop casting method and heat-treated or biological reduction by the interaction between GO and wtPrxI. Cells were grown on both materials and the differentiation process studied by immunological and morphological detection.
Results & conclusion: The results obtained indicate that both reduction methods of GO can determine the modulation of pathway involved in mechano-transduction and differentiation, by affecting YAP/TAZ localization outside the nuclei and increasing neuronal differentiation markers. This suggests that the mechano-transduction pathways are responsible for the differentiation process.
Keywords: PrxI; YAP/TAZ; biomaterials; matrix stiffness; mechanotrasduction; nanomaterials; neuroblastoma; neuronal differentiation; reduced graphene oxide; surface topography.