Biodistribution of functionalized multiwall carbon nanotubes in mice.

With the application of carbon nanotubes in biomedical and pharmaceutical sciences, its basic biological properties in vivo have become an issue of strong concern. Water-soluble functionalized multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) were labeled with radioactive (99m)Tc atoms, and then a tracer was used to study the distribution of MWNTs modified with glucosamine in mice. It shows that MWNTs moved easily among the compartments and tissues of the body, behaving like active molecules although their apparent mean molecular weight is tremendously large. In this study, water-soluble MWNTs were labeled with (99m)Tc for the first time, and all results on the distribution of MWNTs in animals provide useful data for their use in the biomedical field.