title: Carbon nanotubes as in vivo bacterial probes.
abstract: With the rise in antibiotic-resistant infections, non-invasive sensing of infectious diseases is increasingly important. Optical imaging, although safer and simpler, is less developed than other modalities such as radioimaging, due to low availability of target-specific molecular probes. Here we report carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) as bacterial probes for fluorescence imaging of pathogenic infections. We demonstrate that SWNTs functionalized using M13 bacteriophage (M13-SWNT) can distinguish between F'-positive and F'-negative bacterial strains. Moreover, through one-step modification, we attach an anti-bacterial antibody on M13-SWNT, making it easily tunable for sensing specific F'-negative bacteria. We illustrate detection of Staphylococcus aureus intramuscular infections, with ~3.4 × enhancement in fluorescence intensity over background. SWNT imaging presents lower signal spread ~0.08 × and higher signal amplification ~1.4 × , compared with conventional dyes. We show the probe offers greater ~5.7 × enhancement in imaging of S. aureus infective endocarditis. These biologically functionalized, aqueous-dispersed, actively targeted, modularly tunable SWNT probes offer new avenues for exploration of deeply buried infections.
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA [2] The David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Neelkanth M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Bardhan
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA [2] The David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA [3] Division of Pharmaceutics, College of Pharmacy, University of Texas at Austin, 2409 University Avenue, PHR 5.218B, Austin, Texas 78712, USA.
authors.forename: Debadyuti
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ghosh
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA [2] The David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA [3] Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Angela M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Belcher
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000175:diagnosis*; D015374:Biosensing Techniques; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial; D004697:Endocarditis, Bacterial / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000382:microbiology; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000302:isolation & purification; D005260:Female; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008819:Mice, Nude; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D015335:Molecular Probes / Q000737:chemistry; D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon / Q000737:chemistry*; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000302:isolation & purification
chemical_list: D015335:Molecular Probes; D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins