(422c) The Age of Carbon Nanotubes and Biomolecular Convergence for Cancer Therapeutics

Carbon nanotube (CNT) is the new “it” in nanotechnology revolution. CNT’s ease of production as well as their exceptional chemical, mechanical and physical properties, and the ability to be functionalized with molecules of interest based on their high stability and high aspect-ratios, have recently prompted CNTs use both for delivery of drugs as well as for effective killing of tumor cells. In particular, interest was given to improving the engineering technologies that allow CNT synthesis and functionalization for safe and highly efficient delivery of the therapeutic agents. Nevertheless, given the nascent state of nanotechnology, much remains to be learned about the properties, characteristics and effects of carbon nanomaterials when exposed to biological systems, and the complexity of nano-bio-interface-based reactions when considering developing carbon nanomaterial-based therapeutics. In particular, the assessment of CNTs exposure risks and complementary, the benefits of using carbon nanomaterials in the biomedical fields, requires information and vision. This presentation reviews the current status in toxicological and pharmachological profiles of CNTs, the current efforts in my group in understanding nanotube toxicity in relationship to nanotube structure, properties and aspect ratio and proposes a paradigm shift for controlling immunomodulatory activity of nanotubes for providing the next generation of targeted therapeutics that require convergence to minimize host toxicity, while maximizing cancer cell genotoxicity.