Design of double-walled carbon nanotubes for biomedical applications

Vera Neves (1) , Elena Heister (1) , Sara Costa (2) , Carmen Tîlmaciu (3) , Emmanuel Flahaut (3) , Brigitte Soula (3) , Helen M. Coley (1) , John Mcfadden (1) , Ravi S. R. P. Silva (3)

1 UNIS - University of Surrey
2 ZUT - West Pomeranian University of Technology in Szczecin
3 CIRIMAT - Centre interuniversitaire de recherche et d'ingenierie des matériaux

Double-walled carbon nanotubes (DWNTs) prepared by catalytic chemical vapour deposition were functionalized in such a way that they were optimally designed as a nano-vector for the delivery of small interfering RNA (siRNA), which is of great interest for biomedical research and drug development. DWNTs were initially oxidized and coated with a polypeptide (Poly(Lys:Phe)), which was then conjugated to thiol-modified siRNA using a heterobifunctional cross-linker. The obtained oxDWNT-siRNA was characterized by Raman spectroscopy inside and outside a biological environment (mammalian cells). Uptake of the custom designed nanotubes was not associated with detectable biochemical perturbations in cultured cells, but transfection of cells with DWNTs loaded with siRNA targeting the green fluorescent protein (GFP) gene, serving as a model system, as well as with therapeutic siRNA targeting the survivin gene, led to a significant gene silencing effect, and in the latter case a resulting apoptotic effect in cancer cells.

Mots clés: DWCNT; Functionalization Raman spectroscopy; siRNA

Domaines: Biochimie, Biologie Moléculaire; Ingénierie biomédicale; Micro et nanotechnologies/Microélectronique

Vera Neves, Elena Heister, Sara Costa, Carmen Tîlmaciu, Emmanuel Flahaut, et al.. Design of double-walled carbon nanotubes for biomedical applications. Nanotechnology, 2012, vol. 23, pp. 1-8. ⟨10.1088/0957-4484/23/36/365102⟩. ⟨hal-00858588⟩