Single-walled carbon nanotube as a unique scaffold for the multivalent display of sugars.
Gu L,
Luo PG,
Wang H,
Meziani MJ,
Lin Y,
Veca LM,
Cao L,
Lu F,
Wang X,
Quinn RA,
Wang W,
Zhang P,
Lacher S,
Sun YP.
Department of Chemistry and Laboratory for Emerging Materials and Technology, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina 29634-0973, USA.
Single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) is a pseudo-one-dimensional nanostructure capable of carrying/displaying a large number of bioactive molecules and species in aqueous solution. In this work, a series of dendritic beta-D-galactopyranosides and alpha-D-mannopyranosides with a terminal amino group were synthesized and used for the functionalization of SWNTs, which targeted the defect-derived carboxylic acid moieties on the nanotube surface. The higher-order sugar dendrons were more effective in the solubilization of SWNTs, with the corresponding functionalized nanotube samples of improved aqueous solubility characteristics. Through the functionalization, the nanotube apparently serves as a unique scaffold for displaying multiple copies of the sugar molecules in pairs or quartets. Results on the synthesis and characterization of these sugar-functionalized SWNTs and their biological evaluations in binding assays with pathogenic Escherichia coli and with Bacillus subtilis (a nonvirulent simulant for Bacillus anthracis or anthrax) spores are presented and discussed.
PMID: 18712920 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]