Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT) are particularly attractive for biomedical applications, because they exhibit a fluorescent signal in a spectral region where there is minimal interference from biological media. Although SWNT have been used as highly-sensitive detectors for various molecules, their use as in vivo biosensors requires the simultaneous optimization of various parameters, including biocompatibility, molecular recognition, high fluorescence quantum efficiency and signal transduction. Here we demonstrate that a polyethylene glycol ligated copolymer stabilizes near infrared fluorescent SWNT sensors in solution, enabling intravenous injection into mice and the selective detection of local nitric oxide (NO) concentration with a detection limit of 1 μM. The half-life for liver retention is 4 hours, with sensors clearing the lungs within 2 hours after injection, thus avoiding a dominant route of in vivo nanotoxicology. After localization within the liver, it is possible to follow the transient inflammation using NO as a marker and signalling molecule. To this end, we also report a spatial-spectral imaging algorithm to deconvolute fluorescence intensity and spatial information from measurements. Finally, we show that alginate encapsulated SWNT can function as an implantable inflammation sensor for in vivo NO detection, with no intrinsic immune reactivity or other adverse response, for more than 400 days. These results open new avenues for the use of such nanosensors in vivo for biomedical applications.

Molecular recognition is central to the design of therapeutics, chemical catalysis and sensors. Motifs for doing so most commonly involve biological structures such as antibodies and aptamers. The key to such biological recognition consists of a folded and constrained heteropolymer that, via intra-molecular forces, forms a unique three dimensional structure that creates a binding pocket or an interface able to recognize a specific molecule. In this work, we demonstrate that synthetic heteropolymers can be alternatively constrained by adsorption around a nanoparticle, and specifically a single walled carbon nanotube (SWNT), forming a corona phase and resulting in a new form of molecular recognition of specific molecules. The phenomenon is shown to be generic, with new heteropolymer recognition complexes demonstrated for three distinct examples: Riboflavin, l-thyroxine, and estradiol, each predicted using a 2D thermodynamic model of surface interactions. The dissociation constants are continuously tunable by perturbing the chemical structure of the heteropolymer. Moreover, these complexes can be used as new types of spatial-temporal sensors based on modulation of SWNT photoemission in the near-infrared, as we show by tracking riboflavin diffusion in murine macrophages.

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Nav1.5 inactivation is necessary for healthy conduction of the cardiac action potential. Genetic mutations of Nav1.5 perturb inactivation and cause potentially fatal arrhythmias associated with long QT syndrome type 3. The exact structural dynamics of the 2 inactivation complex is unknown. To sense inactivation gate conformational change in live mammalian cells, we incorporated the solvatochromic fluorescent non-canonical amino acid ANAP into single sites in the Nav1.5 inactivation gate. ANAP was incorporated in full-length and C-terminally truncated Nav1.5 channels using mammalian cell synthetase-tRNA technology. ANAP-incorporated channels were expressed in mammalian cells and they exhibited pathophysiological function. A spectral imaging potassium-depolarization assay was designed to detect ANAP emission shifts associated with Nav1.5 conformational change. Site-specific intracellular ANAP incorporation affords live-cell imaging and detection of Nav1.5 inactivation gate conformational change in mammalian cells. Statement of significance We incorporated a fluorescent non-canonical amino acid ANAP into multiple sites within the inactivation gate of human cardiac voltage-gated sodium channels (Nav1.5). We developed a fluorescence based spectral method to monitor Nav1.5 conformational change in intact mammalian cells. This work compliments the near-atomic level structural detail resolved in recent cryo-EM structures of full-length eukaryotic voltagegated sodium channels and sets the foundation for measurement of voltage-gated sodium channel structural dynamics in mammalian cells.

Controlling the morphology of membrane components at the nanometer scale is central to many next-generation technologies in water purification, gas separation, fuel cell, and nanofiltration applications. Toward this end, we report the covalent assembly of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) into three-dimensional framework materials with intertube pores controllable by adjusting the size of organic linker molecules. The frameworks are fashioned into multilayer membranes possessing linker spacings from 1.7 to 3.0 nm, and the resulting framework films were characterized, including transport properties. Nanoindentation measurements by atomic force microscopy show that the spring constant of the SWNT framework film (22.6 +/- 1.2 N/m) increased by a factor of 2 from the control value (10.4 +/- 0.1 N/m). The flux ratio comparison in a membrane-permeation experiment showed that larger spacer sizes resulted in larger pore structures. This synthetic method was equally efficient on silica microspheres, which could then be etched to create all-SWNT framework, hollow capsules approximately 5 mum in diameter. These hollow capsules are permeable to organic and inorganic reagents, allowing one to form inorganic nanoparticles, for example, that become entrapped within the capsule. The ability to encapsulate functional nanomaterials inside perm-selective SWNT cages and membranes may find applications in new adsorbents, novel catalysts, and drug delivery vehicles.

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Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT) are particularly attractive for biomedical applications because they exhibit unique optical properties, fluorescing in the near infrared tissue transparency window, and allow for information transfer without the need for an internal power source. Although SWNT have been used as highly-sensitive detectors for various compounds, their use as in vivo biomarkers requires the simultaneous optimization of multiple parameters, including molecular recognition, biocompatibility, high fluorescence quantum efficiency and signal transduction. This work demonstrates two SWNT delivery mechanisms for in vivo detection of an inflammatory factor, nitric oxide (NO), that is associated with numerous diseases, including cancer, but is poorly understood due to its fast degradation rate and the lack of detection devices.  First, a polyethylene glycol ligated copolymer is shown to stabilize SWNT sensors in physiological solutions, enabling an intravenous injection into mice.  Second, a subcutaneous implant is investigated, with multiple SWNT concentrations, hydrogel shapes and sizes, and the gel’s physical properties examined to determine the preferred material for implantation.  We found that both the injected and implanted SWNT are able to detect inflammation within an animal, thus providing the first demonstration of in vivo SWNT sensors as well as the first long term in vivo NO detection modality.  This work demonstrates the ability of SWNT sensors to be utilized for in vivo data collection and possibly a wide range of biomedical applications.