Pharmaceutics Research Laboratory, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Dr. H. S. Gour Central University, Sagar (MP) 470003, India; Department of Pharmaceutics, Lovely Institute of Technology (Pharmacy), Lovely Professional University, Phagwara (Punjab), 144411, India.
Pharmaceutics Research Laboratory, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Dr. H. S. Gour Central University, Sagar (MP) 470003, India; Pharmaceutics and Pharmacokinetics Division, CSIR-Central Drug Research Institute, Lucknow, 226031, U.P., India.
Crit Rev Ther Drug Carrier Syst. 2018;35(4):293-330. doi: 10.1615/CritRevTherDrugCarrierSyst.2018014419.
Currently, nanomedicines exhibit implausible capability in overcoming the hurdles faced in gene therapy, cancer treatments, as well as other life-threatening diseases. Worldwide, the unique features of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are still being explored by researchers to tap their potential. Different types of CNTs exhibit capabilities in the transportation of vaccines, bioactives, and nucleic acids deep into the cell to previously unreachable targets. This review sheds light on the different aspects of biomedical applications and toxicities associated with functionalized CNTs. To better understand the biomedical scope of CNTs, more research into the toxicological behavior of CNTs as well as functionalized CNTs is needed. The exploration of appropriate cell lines to investigate specific receptors and intracellular targets as well as long-term toxicity beyond the proof-of-concept is needed. These issues facing the translation of surface-engineered CNT nanoarchitectures are vital to moving CNT applications from the laboratory to the clinic. The future of pharmaceutical as well as biomedical applications of CNTs will certainly depend upon whether we are able to prove their safety beyond doubt. And if we succeed through vigorous research efforts, then CNTs will have tremendous application as a freely available and economic biomaterial.
目前，纳米医学在克服基因治疗、癌症治疗和其他危及生命的疾病方面所面临的障碍方面表现出了难以置信的能力。在全球范围内，研究人员仍在探索碳纳米管 (CNT) 的独特特性，以挖掘其潜力。不同类型的 CNT 具有将疫苗、生物活性剂和核酸输送到细胞深处以前无法到达的靶标的能力。本综述重点介绍了与功能化 CNT 相关的生物医学应用和毒性的不同方面。为了更好地理解 CNT 的生物医学范围，需要对 CNT 的毒理学行为以及功能化 CNT 进行更多的研究。需要探索合适的细胞系，以研究特定的受体和细胞内靶标，以及超出概念验证的长期毒性。这些表面工程 CNT 纳米结构的转化所面临的问题对于将 CNT 应用从实验室推向临床至关重要。CNT 在药物和生物医学领域的未来应用将取决于我们是否能够毫无疑问地证明其安全性。如果我们通过积极的研究努力取得成功，那么 CNT 将作为一种免费提供和经济的生物材料具有巨大的应用潜力。
