Nowadays carbon nanomaterials (CNMs) are widely employed for electrochemical sensors due to their superiorities of low cost, large surface area, high electrochemical activity, good chemical durability, enhanced molecules adsorption and favorable biocompatibility. Currently, the successful detected analytes include neurochemicals/biomarkers (dopamine, ascorbic acid, hydrogen peroxide, proteins and DNA).
Smart-drug delivery aims to localize treatment to tumors to reduce cytotoxicity and enhance the therapeutic index by using multifunctional targeting strategies. This book focuses the applications of Nanostructured carbon materials (NCMs) in all fields of pharmacy and medicine from therapeutics to analysis and diagnosis. It also examines the pharmacokinetics, metabolism and toxicity of different forms of CNTs and discusses the perspectives, the advantages and the obstacles of this promising bio-nanotechnology in the future. Cancer is ranked as the second leading cause of death globally. Traditional cancer therapies including chemotherapy are flawed, with off-target and on-target toxicities on the normal cells, requiring newer strategies to improve cell selective targeting. The application of nanomaterial has been extensively studied and explored as chemical biology tools in cancer theranostics. It shows greater applications toward stability, biocompatibility, and increased cell permeability, resulting in precise targeting, and mitigating the shortcomings of traditional cancer therapies. The large surface area of nanoparticles is enough to encapsulate many molecules and the ability to functionalized with various bio-substrates such as DNA, RNA, aptamers, and antibodies, which helps in theranostic action. The challenge associated with nanomaterials is their toxic properties, which should be addressed before their administration in clinical applications.
Currently, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are being successfully used in the medicinal, pharmaceutical, and biomedical fields because of their large surface area, which makes them capable of adsorbing or conjugating with a wide range of therapeutic and diagnostic substances (drugs, genes, vaccines, antibodies, biosensors, etc.). They were the first to demonstrate that they are a great vehicle for drug delivery straight into cells without the need for metabolic processing by the body.
