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Review
. 2021 Mar:17:100262.
doi: 10.1016/j.cobme.2021.100262. Epub 2021 Jan 15.

Recent advances in carbon nanomaterials for biomedical applications: A review

Parand R Riley  1 , Roger J Narayan  2
Affiliations
Review

Recent advances in carbon nanomaterials for biomedical applications: A review

Parand R Riley et al. Curr Opin Biomed Eng. 2021 Mar.

Abstract

With the emergence of new pathogens like coronavirus disease 2019 and the prevalence of cancer as one of the leading causes of mortality globally, the effort to develop appropriate materials to address these challenges is a critical research area. Researchers around the world are investigating new types of materials and biological systems to fight against various diseases that affect humans and animals. Carbon nanostructures with their properties of straightforward functionalization, capability for drug loading, biocompatibility, and antiviral properties have become a major focus of biomedical researchers. However, reducing toxicity, enhancing biocompatibility, improving dispersibility, and enhancing water solubility have been challenging for carbon-based biomedical systems. The goal of this article is to provide a review on the latest progress involving the use of carbon nanostructures, namely fullerenes, graphene, and carbon nanotubes, for drug delivery, cancer therapy, and antiviral applications.

Keywords: Antiviral activity; Cancer therapy; Carbon nanotubes; Drug delivery; Graphene.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this article.

Figures

Image 1
Graphical abstract
Figure 1
Figure 1
The schematic of main carbon nanostructures: fullerenes (C60, C70), graphene, and carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs and MWCNTs).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Schematic of producing TPFE-siRNA-plasma protein for siRNA delivery (adapted from Ref. [15]).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Tissue section observation that confirms the effective delivery of isoprinosine using the conjugated system. The first row shows the zebrafish exposed to FITC, which served as the control material. The second row shows the zebrafish exposed to SWCNTs-I-FITC. No clear green fluorescence can be seen in the control system, whereas the green fluorescence in the conjugated system shows effective internalization (the green fluorescence corresponds to the FITC labeling and the red fluorescence corresponds to dyed cell membrane) (with permission from Ref. [37]).
Figure 4
Figure 4
A representation of inhibitory interaction of C12 with HSV-1 (with permission from Ref. [54]).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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