Efficient receptor-independent intracellulartranslocation of aptamers mediated by conjugation to carbon nanotubes†
Jeroen Van den Bossche,Wafa' T. Al-Jamal,Bowen Tian,Antonio Nunes,Chiara Fabbro,Alberto Bianco,Maurizio Prato,Kostas Kostarelos
Abstract
We have covalently grafted aptamers onto carboxylated carbon nanotubes to design a novel vector system that can easily translocate into the cytosol of different cell types independent of receptor-mediated uptake. We propose the use of carbon nanotubes for the efficient intracellular delivery of biologically active aptamers for potential therapeutic applications.
