title: Carbon nanotube-mediated wireless cell permeabilization: drug and gene uptake.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This work aims to exploit the 'antenna' properties of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). They can be used to induce cell permeabilization in order to transfer drugs (normally impermeable to cell membranes) both in in vitro and in vivo models.
  
  
  METHODS
  The performance of the MWCNTs as receiver antenna was modeled by finite element modeling. Once the appropriate field has been identified, the antenna properties of MWCNTs were investigated in sequential experiments involving immortalized fibroblast cell line (drug model: doxorubicin chemotherapeutic agent) and living mice (drug model: bcl-2 antiapoptotic gene) following stereotactic injection in the cerebral motor cortex.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Finite element modeling analysis predicts that our MWCNTs irradiated in the radiofrequency field resemble thin-wire dipole antennas. In vitro experiments confirmed that combination of MWCNTs and electromagnetic field treatment dramatically favors intracellular drug uptake and, most importantly, drug nuclear localization. Finally, the brain of each irradiated animal exhibits a significantly higher number of transfected cells compared with the appropriate controls.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This wireless application has the potential for MWCNT-based intracellular drug delivery and electro-stimulation therapies.
authors: Medical Science Lab, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, Pisa, 56127, Italy.
authors: Vittoria
authors: V
authors: Raffa
authors: Lisa
authors: L
authors: Gherardini
authors: Orazio
authors: O
authors: Vittorio
authors: Giuseppe
authors: G
authors: Bardi
authors: Afshin
authors: A
authors: Ziaei
authors: Tommaso
authors: T
authors: Pizzorusso
authors: Cristina
authors: C
authors: Riggio
authors: Stephanos
authors: S
authors: Nitodas
authors: Theodoros
authors: T
authors: Karachalios
authors: Khuloud T
authors: KT
authors: Al-Jamal
authors: Kostas
authors: K
authors: Kostarelos
authors: Mario
authors: M
authors: Costa
authors: Alfred
authors: A
authors: Cuschieri
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002463:Cell Membrane Permeability / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000528:radiation effects*; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004317:Doxorubicin / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems; D004574:Electromagnetic Fields; D020342:Finite Element Analysis; D019254:Genes, bcl-2 / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008872:Microwaves; D041681:NIH 3T3 Cells; D036103:Nanotechnology; D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000633:toxicity; D010957:Plasmids / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D059008:Time-Lapse Imaging / Q000379:methods; D014162:Transfection
chemical_list: D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon; D004317:Doxorubicin