Supramolecular assembly and antitumor activity of multiwalled carbon nanotube-camptothecin complexes

The novel supramolecular complexes were prepared with a water-insoluble anticancer drug camptothecin (CPT) loading onto functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotubes via pi-stacking, in order to improve their solubility and antitumor activity. The multiwalled carbon nanotubes were firstly coated with the tri-block copolymer (Pluronic P123) to render high aqueous solubility. The copolymer-coated multiwalled carbon nanotubes can effectively form non-covalent supramolecular complexes with camptothecin. The supramolecular assembly of the complexes (f-MWNTs-CPT) were systematically characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), UV-vis spectrophotometry (UV), fluorescence spectrophotometry, atomic force microscopy (AFM) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Furthermore, in vitro cytotoxicity studies of f-MWNTs-CPT supramolecular complexes using the MTT assay exhibit enhanced antitumor activity, suggesting that the functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotubes can facilitate intracellular delivery of anticancer drug and improve drug activity.