Cellular Processing of Single Wall Carbon Nanotubes

Nanostructured materials are hailed to be the solutions of the future for many research areas, and single wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) are one of the more interesting materials due to their highly desirable electronic, optical, thermal and mechanical properties. For instance, this combination of properties is of wide interest for biological applications, including cellular technologies. However, understanding cellular processing of SWCNTs is limited. In this thesis, quantification of sub-cellular events–including SWCNT uptake rates, altered mitosis, redistribution of sub-cellular components and reduced cellular functionalities–is used to formulate insight into how cells internalize and process SWCNTs. By understanding sub-cellular processing of SWCNTs, new basic science endeavors and SWCNT-based biological applications can be more effectively developed, and the insights can be generalized to other nanostructured materials.