Chuanlong Fu

Targeted therapy of SMMC-7721 liver cancer in vitro and in vivo with carbon nanotubes based drug delivery system.

A new type of drug delivery system (DDS) involved chitosan (CHI) modified single walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) for controllable loading/release of anti-cancer doxorubicin (DOX) was constructed. CHI was non-covalently wrapped around SWNTs, imparting water-solubility and biocompatibility to the nanotubes. Folic acid (FA) was also bounded to the outer CHI layer to realize selective killing of tumor cells. The targeting DDS could effectively kill the HCC SMMC-7721 cell lines and depress the growth of liver cancer in nude mice, showing superior pharmaceutical efficiency to free DOX. The results of the blood routine and serum biochemical parameters, combined with the histological examinations of vital organs, demonstrating that the targeting DDS had negligible in vivo toxicity. Thus, this DDS is promising for high treatment efficacy and low side effects for future cancer therapy.

The ionic liquid-associated synthesis of a cellulose/SWCNT complex and its remarkable biocompatibility

Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) wrapped with cellulose have been successfully prepared by the treatment of SWCNTs with a cellulose solution in the ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bromide. The obtained SWCNT complex can be dispersed in water, forming a stable solution with excellent biocompatibility. It was found that long cellulose/SWCNT scaffolds could promote the growth of HeLa cells. In suspensions, short cellulose/SWCNTs complexes tend to enter HeLa cells and show little affect on cell proliferation. Therefore, the complexes have potential applications in biomaterial scaffolds and intracellular drug delivery systems.

Photochemical Behavior of High Quantum Yield SWNTs Functionalized with Anthracene Salts

Two different fluorescent single walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT) were prepd. First by a reaction of oxidized SWNT-K salt with 1,3-bis(9-anthracenylmethyl)imidazolium chloride (bamim)Cl to provide a fluorescent system SWNT-(bamim), via ion exchange and formation of KCl. Second, by phys. mixing of non-functionalized SWNTs with (bamim)Cl salt to provide SWNT/[bamim]Cl in which anthracene units adhere to the walls of the nanotube via π-π stacking interactions. The SWNT-[bamim] material exhibits a partially reversible photodimerization process that was investigated using UV/Vis spectroscopy, fluorescence emission spectroscopy, and HR-TEM. This study establishes the concept of photoinduced/photoswitchable org.-SWNT conjugated systems based on anthracene dimerization as a prototypical reaction. Hierarchical nanoscale hybrid structures based on the above materials and an understanding of their optical properties may facilitate the construction of SWNT based materials.