The application of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) in the field of biomedicine is becoming an entirely new and exciting topic. In this study, a novel functional SWNT based on an integrin αvβ3 monoclonal antibody was developed and was used for cancer cell targeting in vitro. SWNTs were first modified by phospholipid-bearing polyethylene glycol (PL-PEG). The PL-PEG functionalized SWNTs were then conjugated with protein A. A SWNT-integrin αvβ3 monoclonal antibody system (SWNT-PEG-mAb) was thus constructed by conjugating protein A with the fluorescein labeled integrin αvβ3 monoclonal antibody. In vitro study revealed that SWNT-PEG-mAb presented a high targeting effiency on integrin αvβ3-positive U87MG cells with low cellular toxicity, while for integrin αvβ3-negative MCF-7 cells. the system had a low targeting efficiency, indicating that the high targeting to U87MG cells was due to the specific integrin targeting of the monoclonal antibody. In conclusion. SWNT-PEG-mAb developed in this research is a potential candidate for cancer imaging and drug delivery in cancer targeting therapy.