Imaging of individual SWCNTs inside neural stem cells has been demonstrated using confocal scanning Raman microscopy. Hyperspectral Raman imaging allowed detection of nanomaterials applied to the cell in ultra-low doses in long-term studies.
Nanostructured biomaterials have been extensively explored in clinical imaging and in gene/drug delivery applications. However, limited studies have been performed that examine the influence that nanomaterials may have on cell behavior over long time scales at nonlethal concentrations. The study was designed to investigate whether carbon nanotubes are able to augment cell behavior at low concentrations. Single-walled carbon nanotubes were introduced to neural stem cells at different stages of differentiation at concentrations as low as 5 ng/mL. Results demonstrate that in this particular cell model, nanotube uptake is mediated by endocytosis.Differentiation is augmented, especially when nanotubes are introduced to cells in an actively dividing state. Significant increases in neuronal cell population were observed over the control specimens. While the mechanisms behind this observation are yet unknown, the study demonstrates that low concentrations of internalized nanomaterials can significantly alter the differentiation profile of a stem cell line.
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