Interfacing Glycosylated Carbon-Nanotube-Network Devices with Living Cells to Detect Dynamic Secretion of Biomolecules

摘要

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have stimulated much interest in their biological applications ever since their discovery because of their remarkable electrical, structural, and phys-iochemical properties. For instance, they have been employed as nanoelectronic biosensors with extraordinary sensitivity for the rapid detection of biomolecules, as nanovectors to deliver macromolecules into cells, and as nanofibrous scaffolds for tissue engineering. Despite all these promising potentials, the non-ideal (or even cytotoxic) interface between CNTs and the living cells, however, largely limits the nanotube applications in biology. Herein, we present a strategy to functionalize carbon nanotubes with bioactive monosaccharides and demonstrate that glycosylated CNT network devices are able to biocompatibly interface with living cells and detect the dynamic secretion of biomolecules from them.