VISUALIZING THE UPTAKE AND INTRACELLULAR VESICLE TRANSPORT OF CARBON NANOTUBES TOWARD THE PERINUCLEAR REGION INSIDE CELLS

We directly visualized the uptake and intracellular vesicle transport of shortened single walled carbon nanotubes in living cells through a dual-labeling system. With a stable labeling of fluorescein isothiocyanate and a pH-sensitive stacking of doxorubicin on carbon nanotubes, the location of internalized nanotubes inside the cell and the microenvironment especially the pH change of the nanotube-embedded vesicles could be monitored at the same time. Results showed that after internalization through endocytic pathway, carbon nanotubes tended to transport from the early endosomes to later acidic lysosomes and these vesicles moved along the microtubule track toward a perinuclear region where is a microtubule-organizing center. These results might provide a novel understanding for the intracellular interaction of carbon nanotubes and living cells.