Carbon Nanotube drug encapsulation

Hilder TA, Hill JM (2007) Modelling the encapsulation of the anticancer drug cisplatin into carbon nanotubes. Nanotechnology 18 Art. No. 275704. 

Successful delivery of encapsulated drug is one of the main goals of drug delivery. The nanoparticle systems undergo deformation upon intracellular uptake, leading to loss of encapsulated drug. Studies have been reported that mechanically stable carrier systems prepared with gold nanopar-ticle and carbon nanotubes can release the encapsulated substances upon mechanical rupture. ... 

Fig. 10.17 Carbon nanohoms encapsulate the chemotherapeutic agent cisplatin. TEM image (a) and inverse contrast TEM image of cisplatin loaded into the nanohoms (b). The drug is held at the closed end of the nanotube according to the image in (c) (Ajima et al., 2006)...

Like small amphiphile nanotubes [14], block copolymer nanotubes should have potential applications in controlled deUvery and release [97,98], in encapsulation [99], and in nanoelectronics [100] etc. Although there have been reports on laboratory use of block copolymer nanofibers as vehicles for drug delivery [101], as scaffolds for cell growth [88,102], as precursors for ceramic magnetic nanowires [103,104], and as precursors for carbon nanofibers [105,106[, practical applications of block copolymer nanotubes have not been reported. This is probably due to the difficulty in making such structures. Their preparation from the self-assembly of block copolymers and interests from industry will likely change the scenery of nanotube appUca-tions in the futme. 

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