Photoluminescent carbon nanotubes interrogate the permeability of multicellular tumor spheroids.

ABSTRACT: Nanomaterials have been extensively investigated for cancer drug delivery and imaging applications. Nanoparticles that show promise in two-dimensional cell culture systems often fail in more complex environments, possibly due to the lack of penetration in dense, three-dimensional structures. Multicellular tumor spheroids are an emerging model system to investigate interactions of nanoparticles with 3D in vitro cell culture environments. Using the intrinsic near-infrared emission of semiconducting carbon nanotubes to optically reconstruct their localization within a three-dimensional volume, we resolved the relative permeability of two different multicellular tumor spheroids. Nanotube photoluminescence revealed that nanotubes rapidly internalized into MCF-7 breast cancer cell-derived

SUBMITTER: Jena PV 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4594636 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature