Abstract LB-095: Distribution and clearance of single-walled carbon nanotubes in mouse tissues: in situ detection, imaging and analysis

Abstract

Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) are the subject of expanding research in the fields of targeted drug delivery and biosensors for disease treatment and monitoring. Functionalization of the SWCNT has proven to enhance the efficiency of distribution in the organism. The goal of this project was to establish and standardize methods of detection and characterization of the local tissue distribution of functionalized SWCNT in mouse models. We investigated the distribution and clearance of SWCNT in several tissues at various times after injection, up to one month. We also try to standardize methods of tracking SWCNT in both live and fixed tissues and image analysis protocols to quantify the distribution of the SWCNT in tissues. Another aim is to evaluate local immune response to SWCNT. We have analyzed liver, kidney, spleen, lung, brain, ovary, colon and small intestine from mice sacrificed 24 hours, 3 days, 7 days and 30 days following the injection of SWCNT. Our evaluation revealed that some organs, like kidney and small intestine, retain SWCNTs for at least a month. Slow rates of SWCNT removal from these organs do not appear to affect the overall health of the animals. We have made multiple attempts to image anesthetized live animals and detect SWCNTs in situ, however, the fluorescent signal emitted from SWCNT is too low to be reliably detected. The tissues must be fixed and signals amplified through immunodetection. Detection of immune markers, especially in immunologically active tissues such as spleen is a challenge for histological experiments, but is extremely important and such experiments is underway. Our findings of SWCNT persistence in certain organs 30 days post-injection is surprising and should be studied further. This observation opens further questions about the effect of long-term presence of SWCNT in some tissues and shows that careful investigation into the advantages and disadvantages of SWCNT retention is necessary.

Citation Format: Afsar Barlas, Ke Xu, Yevgeniy Romin, Simone Alidori, Dmitry Yarilin, Ning Fan, Mesruh Turkekul, Sho Fujisawa, David A. Scheinberg, Michael R. McDevitt, Katia Manova-Todorova. Distribution and clearance of single-walled carbon nanotubes in mouse tissues: in situ detection, imaging and analysis. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr LB-095. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-LB-095