A cytoprotective graphene oxide-polyelectrolytes nanoshell for single-cell encapsulation

Graphene oxide (GO) has been increasingly utilized in the fields of food, biomedicine, environment and other fields because of its benign biocompatible. We encapsulated two kinds of GO with different sizes on yeast cells with the assistance of polyelectrolytes poly (styrene sulfonic acid) sodium salt (PSS) and polyglutamic acid (PGA) (termed as Y@GO). The result does not show a significant difference between the properties of the two types of Y@GO (namely Y@GO1 and Y@GO2). The encapsulation layers are optimized as Yeast/PGA/PSS/PGA/GO/PGA/PSS based on the morphology, dispersity, colony-forming unit, and zeta potential. The encapsulation of GO increases the roughness of the yeast. It is proved that the Y@GO increases the survival time and enhance the activity of yeast cells. The GO shell improves the resistance of yeast cells against pH and salt stresses and extends the storage time of yeast cells.

Automated summary

Encapsulation of graphene oxide (GO) on yeast cells increases roughness, enhances survival time and activity, and improves resistance against pH and salt stresses, thereby extending storage time. Optimization of encapsulation layers can help prolong the storage time of yeast cells.