Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes (SWCNTs) are widely used as potential carriers in drug delivery systems. The objective of this work was to observe the effects of pristine, and single-stranded DNA oligonucleotide functionalized SWCNT over the locomotion pattern in the nematode model, Caenorhabditis elegans. The implication of ssDNA in the as-modified SWCNT has been understood in terms of lowering the toxic effects of the pristine SWCNT and thereby normalizing the altered navigation pattern of the worms. Chemotaxis assay displayed an increased migration of the worms towards pristine and ssDNA functionalized SWCNT in comparison to ultrapure water as control. Additionally, paralytic movement was observed with SWCNT exposure in contrast to ssDNA-functionalized SWCNT-exposed animals. High doses of pristine SWCNT further displayed an increased expression of specific proteins obtained from the total protein extracts of the animals. Thus, the alteration in the navigation pattern of the worms, treated with pristine SWCNT, might be ascribed as a result of differentially expressed muscle proteins. Moreover, it is interesting to note that the modified SWCNT was effective in alleviating the atypical form of the inherent movements of the worm. Future investigation will further reveal the protein targets responsible for the altered navigation pattern of the worms.

单壁碳纳米管（SWCNT）被广泛用作药物输送系统中的潜在载体。这项工作的目的是观察原始的和单链DNA寡核苷酸功能化的SWCNT对线虫模型秀丽隐杆线虫的运动模式的影响。。从降低原始SWCNT的毒性作用，从而使蠕虫改变的导航模式正常化方面，已经理解了ssDNA在修饰后的SWCNT中的含义。与作为对照的超纯水相比，化学趋化分析显示蠕虫向原始和ssDNA功能化的SWCNT迁移的增加。此外，与ssDNA功能化的SWCNT暴露的动物相比，SWCNT暴露观察到麻痹运动。高剂量的原始SWCNT进一步显示了从动物总蛋白提取物中获得的特定蛋白的表达增加。因此，用原始SWCNT处理的蠕虫的导航模式改变可能归因于差异表达的肌肉蛋白。此外，有趣的是，经过改进的SWCNT可以有效缓解蠕虫固有运动的非典型形式。未来的研究将进一步揭示导致蠕虫导航模式改变的蛋白质靶标。