In vitro cytotoxicity of functionalized single walled carbon nanotubes for targeted gene delivery applications

Abstract

Carbon nanotubes are a novel class of nanomaterials that have great potential in the field of biomedical research. This study investigates the cytotoxic effects of functionalized single walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) at different concentrations on a colon cancer cell line. Colorectal cancer cells were exposed to single walled carbon nanotubes functionalized with a green fluorescent protein expressing plasmid. The internalization of the nanotube-plasmid DNA complexes and their cytotoxicity were analyzed. The results indicate successful functionalization of the nanotubes and subsequent internalization of the nanotube-plasmid DNA complex by the cancer cells. The cytotoxicity was found to be significantly lower compared to a control. Cell viability was shown to have reduced with an increase in carbon nanotube concentration implying that SWNTs can be cytotoxic at higher dosages. The results show that SWNTs can be successfully used in gene delivery applications and their cytotoxic effects can be limited by optimizing the dosage levels.

• Single wall carbon nanotubes
• functionalization
• cytotoxicity
• gene delivery
• targeted delivery
• nanomedicine
• nanotoxicology

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by research grants from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada and the Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR). A. K. gratefully acknowledges Alexander Graham Bell Post-Graduate Scholarship Doctoral (PGS-D) from NSERC. J. B. acknowledges the Doctoral Scholarship provided by the CIHR. M. M. acknowledges a McGill Faculty of Medicine Internal Scholarship. The authors would like to thank Dr. Pavan Raja for his assistance with the synthesis of single wall carbon nanotubes. Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflict of interest. Part of this work is protected in US Provisional Patent No. 60/739,593.The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this paper.