Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Zhang, Minfang
• Zhou, Xin
• Iijima, Sumio
• Yudasaka, Masako

Titel

Small-Sized Carbon Nanohorns Enabling Cellular Uptake Control

Ist Teil von

• Small (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany), 2012-08, Vol.8 (16), p.2524-2531

Ort / Verlag

Weinheim: WILEY-VCH Verlag

Erscheinungsjahr

2012

Quelle

Wiley Online Library - AutoHoldings Journals

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Carbon nanotubes perform well in preclinical tests for drug delivery and diagnostic imaging, but controlling the size at less than 100 nm to avoid nonspecific uptake by reticuloendothelial systems while targeting delivery to cells of interest via receptor‐mediated endocytosis is difficult, which currently limits their widespread use. Herein, 20–50‐nm graphene tubules, small‐sized single‐walled carbon nanohorns (S‐SWNHs), are obtained with a yield of 20% or higher by an oxidative exfoliation of 100 nm pristine SWNH aggregates. S‐SWNHs are highly hydrophilic and remarkably resistant to cellular uptake by macrophages (RAW 264.7 cells), tumor cells (HeLa or KB), or normal cells (FHs 173We). The nonstimulatory property to cell membranes therefore makes cellular uptake control of S‐SWNHs by functionalization easy. By attaching phospholipid polyethylene glycol, the cellular internalization of S‐SWNHs is almost completely inhibited in RAW 264.7 macrophages. When functionalized with tumor‐targeting folic acid (FA), FA‐S‐SWNHs are taken up by FA receptor‐overexpressing KB cells but not by normal human embryonic cells (FHs 173We), which do not express the FA receptor. With a high rate of stealth and targeting in vitro, S‐SWNHs are one of the most promising nanoparticles for medical use. Graphene tubules with lengths about 20–50 nm are separated from aggregates of single‐walled carbon nanohorns (SWNHs). This material exhibits superiority in cellular uptake control after functionalization. Small‐sized SWNHs are almost completely inhibited in RAW 264.7 macrophages by attaching phospholipid polyethylene glycol (PL‐PEG), and are selectively taken up by KB cells after folic acid (FA) functionalization.