Functionalized Carbon Nanotubes for Protein, Peptide, and Gene Delivery

Abstract Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been widely known due to their immense applications in a variety of fields including the biomedical field owing to their exclusive properties and individual advantages. CNTs are insoluble in water and other organic solvents and have also been reported as toxic. These factors limit the use of CNTs for pharmaceutical applications. However, functionalization of CNTs with proteins, peptides, or other genetic materials such as siRNA may alter the way they interact with cellular components and may limit their toxicity. Functionalized CNTs are preferably employed for biomedicine applications including chemotherapeutic delivery, gene delivery, as well as also employed for biosensing applications. This chapter focuses on functionalized CNTs that can also act as tumor targeting moieties and they permeabilize membranes with cytotoxic consequences. The structural compatibility of CNTs with protein has enhanced their utilization of protein, peptide, and gene delivery as extremely precise carriers due to their properties like nonantigenic, simple, and synthetically diverse nature. In this chapter, we also explained the evolution of the CNT-mediated peptide and gene delivery–based strategies for site-specific delivery of chemotherapeutics and explored current innovations in the field.