Premium
Controlled Chemical Derivatisation of Carbon Nanotubes with Imaging, Targeting, and Therapeutic Capabilities
Author(s) -
MénardMoyon Cécilia,
AliBoucetta Hanene,
Fabbro Chiara,
Chaloin Olivier,
Kostarelos Kostas,
Bianco Alberto
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
chemistry – a european journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.687
H-Index - 242
eISSN - 1521-3765
pISSN - 0947-6539
DOI - 10.1002/chem.201501993
Subject(s) - carbon nanotube , nanotechnology , covalent bond , drug delivery , folate receptor , gemcitabine , materials science , folic acid , combinatorial chemistry , chemistry , organic chemistry , cancer cell , cancer , medicine
In drug delivery, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) hold a great potential as carriers because of their ability to easily cross biological barriers and be internalised into cells. Their high aspect ratio allows multi‐functionalisation and their development as a multimodal platform for targeted therapy. In this article, we report the controlled covalent derivatisation of triple‐functionalised CNTs with the anticancer drug gemcitabine, folic acid as a targeting ligand and fluorescein as a probe. The anticancer activity of gemcitabine was maintained after covalent grafting onto the CNTs. The functionalised nanotubes were internalised into both folate‐positive and negative cells, suggesting the passive diffusion of CNTs. Overall, our approach is versatile and offers a precise chemical control of the sidewall functionalisation of CNTs and the possibility to manoeuvre the types of functionalities required on the nanotubes for a multimodal therapeutic strategy.