Cancer remains a prominent issue in health care. In order to cure cancer, gene/protein delivery in combination with tissue engineering has paved a new avenue. Additionally, nano-carriers are promising in cancer treatment due to tumors have leaky blood vessels and poor lymphatic drainage, which allow nano-carriers to retain and release drugs within the tumors. Therefore, the development of a nano-sized gene/protein delivery system based on liposomes, polymers and viral vectors to target a gene or transcription factor that regulates cell proliferation, differentiation, or apoptosis is attractive. However, concerns of disease transfection by viral vectors, as well as low specificity and transfection efficiency of liposomes and polymers hampered practical applications. Thus, Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) which can easily penetrate cells and vehicle biological cargoes across cell membrane receive overwhelming research enthusiasm. Here, we have fabricated CNT-PLGA-Caspase-3 conjugates to induce apoptosis of osteosarcoma cells in vitro efficiently and in a temporally controlled manner.

Carbon nanotubes as protein/gene delivery carriers

245th National Meeting (2013)

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