Multifunctional dendrimer-modified multiwalled carbon nanotubes: synthesis, characterization, and in vitro cancer cell targeting and imaging.
Carbon nanotubes hold great promise for their use as a platform in nanomedicine, especially in drug delivery, medical imaging, and cancer targeting and therapeutics. Herein, we present a facile approach to modifying carbon nanotubes with multifunctional poly(amidoamine) (PAMAM) dendrimers for cancer cell targeting and imaging. In this approach, fluorescein isothiocyanate (FI)- and folic acid (FA)-modified amine-terminated generation 5 (G5) PAMAM dendrimers (G5·NH(2)-FI-FA) were covalently linked to acid-treated multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), followed by acetylation of the remaining primary amine groups of the dendrimers. The resulting MWCNT/G5.NHAc-FI-FA composites are water-dispersible, stable, and biocompatible. In vitro flow cytometry and confocal microscopy data show that the formed MWCNT/G5·NHAc-FI-FA composites can specifically target to cancer cells overexpressing high-affinity folic acid receptors. The results of this study suggest that, through modification with multifunctional dendrimers, complex carbon nanotube-based materials can be fabricated, thereby providing many possibilities for various applications in biomedical sensing, diagnosis, and therapeutics.
Shi
Xiangyang
X
Nanobiotechnology Laboratory, College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, and Biotechnology, Donghua University, Shanghai 201620, People's Republic of China. xshi@dhu.edu.cn
Wang
Su He
SH
Shen
Mingwu
M
Antwerp
Mary E
ME
Chen
Xisui
X
Li
Chang
C
Petersen
Elijah J
EJ
Huang
Qingguo
Q
Weber
Walter J
WJ
Baker
James R
JR
D050091:Dendrimers / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003952:Diagnostic Imaging; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon / Q000737:chemistry*; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology
D050091:Dendrimers; D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon