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- PMID: 21603701
- UKPMCID: 21603701
- DOI: 10.1039/c1nr10080g
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Cellular uptake mechanisms of functionalised multi-walled carbon nanotubes by 3D electron tomography imaging.
Al-Jamal, Khuloud T; Nerl, Hannah; Müller, Karin H; Ali-Boucetta, Hanene; Li, Shouping; Haynes, Peter D; Jinschek, Joerg R; Prato, Maurizio; Bianco, Alberto; Kostarelos, Kostas; Porter, Alexandra E
Nanoscale. 2011;3(6):2627-35.
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Full-text held externally
- PMID: 21603701
- UKPMCID: 21603701
- DOI: 10.1039/c1nr10080g
Abstract
Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are being investigated for a variety of biomedical applications. Despite numerous studies, the pathways by which carbon nanotubes enter cells and their subsequent intracellular trafficking and distribution remain poorly determined. Here, we use 3-D electron tomography techniques that offer optimum enhancement of contrast between carbon nanotubes and the plasma membrane to investigate the mechanisms involved in the cellular uptake of shortened, functionalised multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNT-NH(3)(+)). Both human lung epithelial (A549) cells, that are almost incapable of phagocytosis and primary macrophages, capable of extremely efficient phagocytosis, were used. We observed that MWNT-NH(3)(+) were internalised in both phagocytic and non-phagocytic cells by any one of three mechanisms: (a) individually via membrane wrapping; (b) individually by direct membrane translocation; and (c) in clusters within vesicular compartments. At early time points following intracellular translocation, we noticed accumulation of nanotube material within various intracellular compartments, while a long-term (14-day) study using primary human macrophages revealed that MWNT-NH(3)(+) were able to escape vesicular (phagosome) entrapment by translocating directly into the cytoplasm.