Multifunctional Dendrimer-Modified Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes: Synthesis, Characterization, and In Vitro Cancer Cell Targeting and Imaging

Carbon nanotubes, hold great promise for their use as a platform in nanomedicine, especially in drug delivery, medical imaging, and cancer targeting and therapeutics. Herein, we present a facile approach to modifying carbon nanotubes with multifunctional poly(amidoamine) (PAMAM) dendrimers for cancer cell targeting and imaging. In this approach, fluorescein isothiocyanate (FI)- and folic acid (FA)-modified amine-terminated generation 5 (G5) PAMAM dendrimers (G5.NH2-FI-FA) were covalently linked to acid-treated multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), followed by acetylation of the remaining primary amine groups of the dendrimers. The resulting MWCNT/G5.NHAc-FI-FA composites are water-dispersible, stable, and biocompatible. In vitro flow cytometry and confocal microscopy data show that the formed MWCNT/G5.NHAc-FI-FA composites can specifically target to cancer cells overexpressing high-affinity folic acid receptors. The results of this study suggest that, through modification with multi functional dendrimers, complex carbon nanotube-based materials can be fabricated, thereby providing many possibilities for various applications in biomedical sensing, diagnosis, and therapeutics.