Multiphoton luminescence imaging of chemically functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes in cells and solid tumors

Abstract

The intrinsic nonlinear photoluminescence (PL) property of chemically functionalized multi-walled nanotubes MWNTs (f-MWNTs) is reported in this study. f-MWNTs are imaged in fixed lung epithelial cancer cells (A549) and Kupffer cells in vitro, and in subcutaneously implanted solid tumors in vivo, for the first time, using multiphoton PL and fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLIM). Multiphoton imaging in the near-infrared excitation region (∼750–950 nm), employed in this study in a label-free manner, provides sensitivity and resolution optimal to track f-MWNTs within intra-cellular compartments and facilitates tumour imaging and sentinel lymph node tracking in vivo. Wider applications include employing this technique in live imaging of f-MWNTs in biological milieu to facilitate image-guided drug delivery.