Chirality-Dependent Angiogenic Activity of MoS2 Quantum Dots toward Regulatable Tissue Regeneration

Despite great advances in understanding the biological behaviors of chiral materials, the effect of chirality-configured nanoparticles on tissue regeneration-related biological processes remains poorly understood. Herein, the chirality of MoS2 quantum dots (QDs) is tailored by functionalization with l-/d-penicillamine, and the profound chiral effects of MoS2 QDs on cellular activities, angiogenesis, and tissue regeneration are thoroughly investigated. Specifically, d-MoS2 QDs show a positive effect in promoting the growth, proliferation, and migration of human umbilical vein endothelial cells. The expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS), and fibroblast growth factor (FGF) in d-MoS2 QDs group is substantially up-regulated, resulting in enhanced tube formation activity. This distinct phenomenon is largely due to the higher internalization efficiency of d-MoS2 QDs than l-MoS2 QDs and chirality-dependent nano-bio interactions. In vivo angiogenic assay shows the expression level of angiogenic markers in newly-formed skin tissues of d-MoS2 QDs group is higher than that in l-MoS2 QDs group, leading to an accelerated re-epithelialization and improved skin regeneration. The findings of chirality-dependent angiogenesis activity of MoS2 QDs provide new insights into the biological activity of MoS2 nanomaterials, which also opens up a new path to the rational design of chiral nanomaterials for tissue regeneration application.

Automated summary

By functionalizing MoS2 quantum dots (QDs) with l-/d-penicillamine, we found that d-MoS2 QDs exhibited a positive effect in promoting the growth, proliferation, and migration of human umbilical vein endothelial cells. This distinct phenomenon was largely attributed to the higher internalization efficiency of d-MoS2 QDs than l-MoS2 QDs and chirality-dependent nano-bio interactions. In vivo angiogenic assay demonstrated that the expression level of angiogenic markers in newly-formed skin tissues of the d-MoS2 QDs group was higher than that in the l-MoS2 QDs group, leading to accelerated re-epithelialization and improved skin regeneration.