Genotoxic Assessment of Carbon Nanotubes
Carbon nanotubes are unique one-dimensional macromolecules with promising application in biology and medicine. Since their toxicity is still under debate, here we describe an investigation of genotoxic properties of purified single-walled carbon nanotubes
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ntroduction Carbon nanotubes (CNT) are unique, one-dimensional macromolecules, whose outstanding properties have sparked an abundance of research since their discovery in 1991 (1). Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) are constructed of a single sheet of graphite (diameter 0.4–10 nm), while multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) consist of multiple concentric graphite cylinders of increasing diameter (10–100 nm) (2). Both SWCNT and MWCNT possess high tensile strengths, are ultralight weight, and have excellent thermal and chemical stability. In combination with their metallic and semiconductive electronic properties, this remarkable array of features has seen a plethora of applications proposed. One of the major areas of CNT research is the field of biomedical materials and devices. Many applications for CNT have been proposed including biosensors, drug and vaccine delivery vehicles, and novel biomaterials (2). CNT can be used as nanofillers in existing polymeric materials to both dramatically improve mechanical properties and create highly anisotropic nanocomposites
Volkmar Weissig et al. (eds.), Cellular and Subcellular Nanotechnology: Methods and Protocols, Methods in Molecular Biology, vol. 991, DOI 10.1007/978-1-62703-336-7_29, © Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013
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(3, 4). They can also be used to create electrically conductive polymers and tissue engineering constructs with the capacity to provide controlled electrical stimulation (5–7). However, before such materials can be incorporated into new and existing biomedical devices, the toxicity and biocompatibility of CNT needs to be thoroughly investigated. Within the realm of biotechnology, carbon nanotubes, a major class of carbon-based tubular nanostructures, have been utilized as platforms for ultrasensitive recognition of antibodies (8) as nucleic acids sequencers (9) and as bioseperators, biocatalysts (10), and ion channel blockers (11) for facilitating biochemical reactions and biological processes. Towards nanomedicine, an emerging field of utilizing nanomaterials for novel and alternative diagnostics and therapeutics has been developed. CNT have been utilized as scaffolds for neuronal and ligamentous tissue growth for regenerative interventions of the central nervous system and orthopedic sites (12), substrates for detecting antibodies associated with human autoimmune diseases with high specificity (13), and carriers of contrast agent aquated Gd3+-ion clusters for enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (14). When coated with nucleic acids (DNA or RNA) or proteins, CNT have been shown as effective substrates for gene sequencing and as gene and drug delivery vectors to challenge conventional viral and particulate delivery systems (15–19). Consequently, efforts to take advantage of the physical and chemical properties of CNT in biological settings must first circumvent the hydrophobicity of these nanomaterials. Research over the past decade has shown that CNT and fullerenes can be readily modified, either covalent
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