Carbon nanostructures as multi-functional drug delivery platforms

Abstract

Nanotechnology is providing exciting and new opportunities which are likely to revolutionize future clinical practice. The use of nanoparticles for biomedical applications is particularly exciting due to their huge potential for multi-modal approaches. This includes their use as drug delivery vectors, imaging contrast agents, hyperthermia systems and molecular targeting. Their ability to cross biological barriers, for example the blood brain barrier, makes them attractive for potential treatments in neurological disorders. There is also great hope that nanostructures will serve as platforms in future cancer therapies.Current cancer fighting strategies consist primarily of surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy.Each of these treatments is bound by a limit, known as the therapeutic window, which, if exceeded, causes undue harm to the patient. In the ongoing quest to improve our therapeutic arsenal, nanoparticles are emerging as exciting structures for a new generation of multi-modal therapeutics.Within this context, carbon nanostructures are amongst the leading contenders as building blocks to deliver multi-function drug delivery platforms. This review examines the various properties of carbon nanostructures that allow such multi-functionality. Recent advances on the development of novel approaches for functionalization, targeting and imaging via carbon nanostructures are discussed.

Molecular Dynamics Simulations Predict the Pathways via Which Pristine Fullerenes Penetrate Bacterial Membranes

“…2 Diverse biomedical applications have additionally been proposed for fullerenes, which generally use the ability of these caged compounds to entrap small molecules and thus serve as nanosized gene or drug delivery devices. 3,4 But more recently, fullerenes have been shown to be bactericidal towards Gram-negative bacteria such as Escherichia coli (E. coli), 5,6 suggesting that fullerenes may find future applications in controlling microbial pathogens. C 60 nanoparticles seem especially well suited for antibacterial applications compared to metallic nanoparticles or expansive repetitively branched dendrimers, given their small size, which reduces energy barriers to bilayer insertion, and their ability to accommodate diverse surface decoration enabling fine-tuning of particle shape and surface chemistry.…”

Current applications of graphene oxide in nanomedicine

“…Good examples of this approach can be found in the studies by Yang et al, 98 Depan et al and Mendes et al 99,100 who showed that the anticancer molecule doxorubicin (DOX) forms a strong bond with the GO surface and that the release of DOX is more extensive in acidic or tumor environments than normal tissues. Several groups have sought to exploit the acidic environment of cancer cells by developing graphene-based vehicles containing pH-sensitive polymers.…”

Achieving Ultra-Low Detection Limit Using Nanofiber Labels for Rapid Disease Detection

“…Several demonstrations confirming the possibilities of incorporating CNTs have been reported [11] [13]- [15]. However, the utilization of individual CNTs continues to pose a challenge due to signal repeatability and higher false-alarm rates.…”