title: Preparation, characterization and cytotoxicity of carbon nanotube-chitosan-phycocyanin complex.
abstract: Photodynamic therapy (PDT) or photothermal therapy (PTT) using nanomaterials has shown great prospect for cancer treatment. Phycocyanin (PC) is a photoharvesting pigment and is also an attractive candidate for PDT. The multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWNT) is a potent candidate for PTT due to its extraordinary photo-to-thermal energy conversion efficiency upon excitation with near-infrared (NIR) light. To date, although MWNT-CS complexes have been well studied, no report about the reconjugation of MWNT-CS with phycocyanin is available in the literature. Here, by using water-soluble chitosan (CS), we prepared and characterized a novel biomaterial, MWNT-CS-PC, with the potential for PDT and PTT. The cytotoxicity experiments found that MWNT-CS-PC exhibited cell growth inhibition activity. Moreover, with irradiation of NIR light (808 nm) or visible light (532 nm), the photoinduced cytotoxicity was indeed enhanced. These results suggest that MWNT-CS-PC may potentially serve as a future photodynamic and photothermal therapy for cancer.
authors.affiliation: College of Light Industry and Food Sciences, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Xiaoxia
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liao
authors.forename: Xuewu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000737:chemistry; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D048271:Chitosan / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy*; D010778:Photochemotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D017319:Photosensitizing Agents / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D010798:Phycocyanin / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D013056:Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet; D013818:Thermogravimetry
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon; D017319:Photosensitizing Agents; D010798:Phycocyanin; D048271:Chitosan