(Invited) Tailored Functionalization of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes for Real-Time Monitoring of Hydrolytic Enzymes Activity

Abstract

Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) have unique optical and physical properties, and they benefit from the ease of surface functionalization and biocompatibility. Semiconducting SWCNTs fluoresce in the near-infrared (nIR) part of the spectrum, which overlaps with the transparency window of biological samples. The SWCNTs fluorescence is sensitive to the environment, and depending on the surface functionalization, subtle changes in the proximity of the nanotube can result in significant spectral modulations. Hence, SWCNTs can be utilized as optical sensors enabling real-time detection with optical signal transduction1–3. Here, we demonstrate tailored functionalization of SWCNTs, which render the nanotubes substrate for hydrolytic enzymes. We show that the chemical composition and functional groups of the SWCNTs wrapping mediate the interaction between the nanotube and the enzymes. Our results open new avenues for monitoring enzymatic activity with fluorescent nanoparticles and hold great promise for biomedical research and applications.Reference(1) Hendler-Neumark, A.; Bisker, G. Fluorescent Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes for Protein Detection. Sensors 2019, 19 (24), 5403.(2) Bisker, G.; Bakh, N. A.; Lee, M. A.; Ahn, J.; Park, M.; O’Connell, E. B.; Iverson, N. M.; Strano, M. S. Insulin Detection Using a Corona Phase Molecular Recognition Site on Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes. ACS Sensors 2018, 8 (2), 367–377.(3) Bisker, G.; Dong, J.; Park, H. D.; Iverson, N. M.; Ahn, J.; Nelson, J. T.; Landry, M. P.; Kruss, S.; Strano, M. S. Protein-Targeted Corona Phase Molecular Recognition. Nat. Commun. 2016, 7, 1–14.