Reema Zeineldin, Ph.D.

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are one of the new emerging drug delivery nanocarriers that efficiently transport a variety of
CNTs such as targeting moieties, therapeutic agents and imaging agents, (2)  their ease of uptake by cells and their
ability to deliver a variety of cargo, and (3) CNTs can be used for photothermal or photoacoustic destruction of targeted
cancer cells.

easily functionalized through acid oxidation to create carboxyl groups at defect sites or ends of CNTs, and these The
two types of CNTs, single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) can be
groups can be further chemically modified to introduce new groups or even to covalently attach a variety of molecules. In
addition CNTs can be functionalized non-covalently through adsorption of molecules to their surfaces, or even
molecules could be encapsulated by CNTs’ interior space.

CNTs are emerging as drug delivery vehicles that are capable of efficiently transporting a variety of adsorbed or
chemically conjugated molecules inside cells.  CNTs with length <= 1 µm have been used to transport into cells amino
acids, nucleic acids, peptides and proteins, and therapeutic agents. We aim at studying the intracellular fate of carbon
nanotubes that target either epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) or folate receptor alpha on cancers. This will
facilitate the design of drug linkers that are cleavable in the endosomal environment to which they are delivered.
Zeineldin, R. Carbon Nanotubes for Targeted Cancer Therapy. In Challa Kumar, Ed. of book series:  Carbon Nanomaterials  for Life Sciences. 2011.
Wiley-VCH, NJ. March 2011.
be physically adsorbed or chemically conjugated to CNTs.  Zeineldin, R. Carbon Nanotubes for Targeted
Cancer Therapy. In Challa Kumar, Ed. of book series:  Carbon Nanomaterials  for Life Sciences. 2011. Wiley-VCH,