Uptake and Release of Double‐Walled Carbon Nanotubes by Mammalian Cells |
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| Authors: | Vera Neves Elena Heister Sara Costa Carmen Tîlmaciu Ewa Borowiak‐Palen Cristina E. Giusca Emmanuel Flahaut Brigitte Soula Helen M. Coley Johnjoe McFadden S. Ravi P. Silva |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Nanoelectronics Centre, Advanced Technology Institute, University of Surrey, Guildford, GU2 7XH (UK);2. Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford, GU2 7XH (UK);3. West Pomeranian University of Technology in Szczecin, Institute of Chemical and Environment Engineering, Piastów 17, 70–310 Szczecin (Poland);4. Université de Toulouse, UPS/INP/CNRS, Institut Carnot CIRIMAT, 118 route de Narbonne, 31062 Toulouse, Cedex 9 (France) |
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| Abstract: | Efforts to develop carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as nano‐vehicles for precise and controlled drug and gene delivery, as well as markers for in vivo biomedical imaging, are currently hampered by uncertainties with regard to their cellular uptake, their fate in the body, and their safety. All of these processes are likely to be affected by the purity of CNT preparation, as well as the size and concentration of CNTs used, parameters that are often poorly controlled in biological experiments. It is demonstrated herein that under the experimental conditions of standard transfection methods, DWNTs are taken up by cultured cells but are then released after 24 h with no discernable stress response. The results support the potential therapeutic use of CNTs in many biomedical settings, such as cancer therapy. |
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| Keywords: | biomedical applications carbon nanotubes cellular uptake/release cellular stress response drug delivery |
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