Research Progress on the Carbon Nanotube as a Novel Immune Adjuvant
With excellent biological properties,carbon nanotube(CNT)has become one of the key nano materials studied by science researchers in recent years,which could improve immune response and increase the level of specific antibodies,with a good application prospect in the development of immune adjuvant. With extremely high specific surface area,CNT,as an immune adjuvant,could non-specifically absorb various drugs,genes,proteins and other substances,and enter immune cells without damaging any structure of cell membrane for the purpose of providing favorable conditions to transport and deliver antigens. At present,the studies on the effect of CNT on immune response have taken a step forward,but the exact mechanism for enhancing immune response has not been identified. Therefore,the optimal functionalization,immune dose and immunotoxicity of carbon nanotubes should be further studied in the future. In the paper,the advantages and application of CNT as an adjuvant,as well as possible problems and future research focus were analyzed with a view to providing some new ideas for next step.