Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) have shown promise for applications in biosensing and drug delivery.  We have researched the possibility of using SWNTs to deliver antibiotics to bacteria.  Specifically, oxidized SWNTs were covalently functionalized with the antibiotic tetracycline, as verified with FTIR and UV/vis spectroscopies.  Then, Escherichia coli cells were incubated in a growth medium that contained tetracycline-SWNTs, and the viability of the cell cultures were assessed using absorbance measurements.  The results showed that a concentration of 50 �g/mL of tetracycline-nanotubes was as effective as plain tetracycline at killing E. coli.  Current experiments use fluorescein isothiocyanate, FITC, as a fluorescent tag to track the movement of the oxidized carbon nanotubes to investigate the method by which the SWNTs deliver tetracycline to E. coli. If the nanotubes carry the antibiotic through the membrane, it opens up new opportunities to study the effectiveness of tetracycline-SWNTs against tetracycline-resistant E. coli.

Investigation of tetracycline-functionalized single-walled carbon nanotubes as a drug delivery agent

244th National Meeting (2012)

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