Study of delivery systems utilizing functionalized single wall carbon nanotubes

UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
Adeyinka Olumide Adesina (Creator)
Institution
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/
Advisor
Tetyana Ignatova

Abstract: Functionalized single wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) are a class of one-dimensional nanomaterials that has been used for various biological applications such as biosensing, bioimaging, drug delivery, tissue engineering, etc. This dissertation focuses on the design of a hybrid material made from SWCNT and single strand DNA (ssDNA) to serve as a delivery vector for two major tasks namely intracellular gene introduction and nongenetic modification of bacteria cells. Current biomedical research methods consider the use of oligomer-based nanoparticles for targeted cancer therapy and immunotherapy. However, crossing biological membranes for delivery at specific sites in vivo is a challenging task, hence it needs to be further studied. We used Förster resonance energy transfer to monitor the unzipping and hybridization of oligomer-based nanoparticles. We observed an unexpected enhancement of the SWCNT photoluminescence. The atomic force microscopy measurements revealed changes in optical responses of SWCNT with the nano-tree and nano-brush assemblies’ formations. In a bid to manipulate the light-harvesting antenna properties of S. elongatus bacteria (SE), the non-bleaching peptide nblA was introduced into the bacteria using ssDNA-SWCNT delivery cargo. The degradation kinetics of SE photoactivity was studied over 126 hours. Phycobilisomes in SE with the nblA-ssDNA-SWCNT hybrid were found to degrade faster than in the control sample (SE). Concurrently, adenosine triphosphate production in the designed bacteria was reduced by half. We explain these changes with the interruption in the energy and electron transfer pathway by incorporation of nblA, forming a complex with the phycocyanin pigment. This research will contribute to knowledge by establishing ssDNA-SWCNT hybrid as a veritable vehicle that can be used in the delivery of genetic and nongenetic materials. We established that the properties of the ssDNA-SWCNT can be manipulated ex vivo for a specific purpose, hence it is useful for delivery science applications in the pharmaceutical and agriculture industries.

Additional Information

Publication
Dissertation
Language: English
Date: 2022
Keywords
Deoxyribonucleic acid, Gene, Photoresponse, Phycobilisomes, Single wall carbon nanotube
Subjects
Carbon nanotubes
DNA hybridization
Phycobilisomes
Bacterial genetic engineering

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