FSiNPs mediated improved double immunofluorescence staining for gastric cancer cells imaging

A fluorescent silica nanoparticles (FSiNPs) mediated double immunofluorescence staining technique has been proposed for MGC-803 gastric cancer cells imaging by confocal laser scanning microscopy. Anti-CEA antibody and anti-CK19 antibody which can be both bonded to MGC-803 gastric cancer cells were first conjugated to fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) doped fluorescent silica nanoparticles (FFSiNPs) and RuBPY doped fluorescent silica nanoparticles (RFSiNPs), respectively. The MGC-803 gastric cancer cells were incubated with the mixture of anti-CEA antibody-conjugated FFSiNPs and anti-CK19 antibody-conjugated RFSiNPs, and subsequently imaged using confocal laser scanning microscopy. With this method, the in vitro cultured MGC-803 gastric cancer cells lines were successfully doubled labeled and distinguished through antigen-antibody recognition, together with the green and red signal of FFSiNPs and RFSiNPs simultaneously obtained without crossreactivity by confocal laser scanning microscopy imaging. By comparison with the conventional double immunofluorescence staining using green-emitting and red-emitting dyes, the photostability of this proposed method for confocal laser scanning microscopy imaging has been greatly improved. Furthermore, the ex vivo imaging of primary MGC-803 gastric cancer cells samples came from the tumor tissues of mice bearing the MGC gastric cancer tumor xenografts by this method have also been explored. The results demonstrate that the method offers potential advantage of photostability for the confocal laser scanning microscopy imaging of MGC-803 gastric cancer cells, and is applicable to the imaging of primary MGC-803 gastric cancer cells from the tumor tissues.     

Blue-emissive upconversion nanoparticles for low-power-excited bioimaging in vivo

Water-soluble upconversion luminescent (UCL) nanoparticles based on triplet-triplet annihilation (TTA) were successfully prepared by coloading sensitizer (octaethylporphyrin Pd complex) and annihilator (9,10-diphenylanthracene) into silica nanoparticles. The upconversion luminescence quantum yield of the nanoparticles can be as high as 4.5% in aqueous solution. As determined by continuous kinetic scan, the nanoparticles have excellent photostability. Such TTA-based upconversion nanoparticles show low cytotoxicity and were successfully used to label living cells with very high signal-to-noise ratio. UCL imaging with the nanoparticles as probe is capable of completely eliminating background fluorescence from either endogenous fluorophores of biological sample or the colabeled fluorescent probe. In particular, such blue-emissive upconversion nanoparticles were successfully applied in lymph node imaging in vivo of living mouse with excellent signal-to-noise ratio (>25), upon low-power density excitation of continuous-wave 532 laser (8.5 mW cm(-2)). Such high-contrast and low-power excited bioimaging in vivo with a blue-emissive upconversion nanoparticle as probe may extend the arsenal of currently available luminescent bioimaging in vitro and in vivo.     

Fabrication of fluorescent silica-Au hybrid nanostructures for targeted imaging of tumor cells

Uniform "core-satellite" structured nanoparticles containing organic dye incorporated in the silica shell and fluorescence quenching Au nanoparticles have been synthesized with excellent fluorescent properties, and their targeted imaging application in tumor cells has been investigated.     

点击功能化的叶酸受体靶向荧光纳米探针用于肿瘤细胞成像

采用点击化学偶联法对荧光二氧化硅纳米粒子表面进行叶酸功能化修饰,构建了一种叶酸受体靶向的荧光纳米探针,并成功用于肿瘤细胞的成像研究.首先通过St?ber法制备包裹钌联吡啶的荧光二氧化硅纳米粒子(RSiNPs),然后利用叠氮化硅烷偶联剂(Az-PTES)的水解反应在其表面引入叠氮基团,最后通过点击化学反应将炔丙基叶酸衍生物偶联到粒子表面.利用红外光谱对其偶联前后的叠氮基特征峰(2105 cm-1)进行表征,证实了叶酸功能化的荧光纳米探针(RSiNPs-Folate)已被成功制备.在生理pH条件下,以458 nm为激发波长,RSiNPs-Folate在601 nm处发射较强的红色荧光,且光稳定性较好.细胞成像结果表明,这种叶酸受体靶向的荧光纳米探针能够有效地标记叶酸受体呈阳性的人宫颈癌细胞(HeLa),而叶酸受体呈阴性的人肺癌细胞(A549)未观察到明显的荧光.叶酸竞争性结合实验证明了这种叶酸受体介导的肿瘤细胞成像机制.此探针能够实现混合细胞体系中HeLa细胞的选择性识别与荧光成像.与酰胺化反应偶联叶酸相比,这种点击功能化的纳米探针的合成方法简单、反应条件温和、产率高,可用于不同肿瘤细胞的荧光标记与成像.     

Fluorescent dye-doped silica nanoparticles: new tools for bioapplications

The need to decipher various biological events has led to the elucidation of the molecular mechanisms underlying a number of disease processes. Consequently, the detection and simultaneous monitoring of chemical interactions between biological targets has become indispensable in medical diagnosis, targeted therapeutics, and molecular biology. Multiplexed applications employing nanomaterials, which represent the integration of nanotechnology and biology, have changed the bioanalytical outlook and provided various promising tools. Among these nanomaterials, fluorescent dye-doped silica nanoparticles have demonstrated excellent potential for use in advanced bioanalysis to facilitate deeper understanding of biology and medicine at the molecular level. In particular, silica nanoparticles have been applied to diagnostics and therapeutic applications in cancer and gene/drug delivery. This feature article summarizes recent developments in the synthesis, biocompatibility, and bioapplications of fluorescent dye-doped silica nanoparticles.     

Anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (anti-EGFR) antibody conjugated fluorescent nanoparticles probe for breast cancer imaging

Fluorescent nanoparticles (FNs) with unique optical properties may be useful as biosensors in living cancer cell imaging and cancer targeting. In this study, anti-EGFR antibody conjugated fluorescent nanoparticles (FNs) (anti-EGFR antibody conjugated FNs) probe was used to detect breast cancer cells. FNs with excellent character such as non-toxicity and photostability were first synthesized with a simple, cost-effective and environmentally friendly modified Stőber synthesis method, and then successfully modified with anti-EGFR antibody. This kind of fluorescence probe based on the anti-EGFR antibody conjugated FNs has been used to detect breast cancer cells with fluorescence microscopy imaging technology. The experimental results demonstrate that the anti-EGFR antibody conjugated FNs can effectively recognize breast cancer cells and exhibited good sensitivity and exceptional photostability, which would provide a novel way for the diagnosis and curative effect observation of breast cancer cells and offer a new method in detecting EGFR.     

Exploring the Condensation Reaction between Aromatic Nitriles and Amino Thiols To Optimize In Situ Nanoparticle Formation for the Imaging of Proteases and Glycosidases in Cells

The condensation reaction between 6‐hydroxy‐2‐cyanobenzothiazole (CBT) and cysteine has been shown for various applications such as site‐specific protein labelling and in vivo cancer imaging. This report further expands the substrate scope of this reaction by varying the substituents on aromatic nitriles and amino thiols and testing their reactivity and ability to form nanoparticles for cell imaging. The structure–activity relationship study leads to the identification of the minimum structural requirement for the macrocyclization and assembly process in forming nanoparticles. One of the scaffolds made of 2‐pyrimidinecarbonitrile and cysteine joined by a benzyl linker was applied to design fluorescent probes for imaging caspase‐3/7 and β‐galactosidase activity in live cells. These results demonstrate the generality of this system for imaging hydrolytic enzymes.     

Synthesis and Characterization of Fluorescent Silica Nanoparticles Functionalized with Collagens of Variable Lengths

Collagen, the most abundant protein in human body, has been widely used as an excellent natural material for diverse biomedical applications due to its superior properties such as ample biological interaction sites, minimal immunogenicity and high biocompatibility. Collagens of different lengths are produced by recombinant technology and utilized to functionalize fluorescent silica nanoparticles (FNPs). The collagen‐functionalized FNPs display mono‐disperse distribution, but their sizes are dependent on the length of collagen. These modified FNPs all show nice fluorescence profile as well as low cytotoxicity, suggesting promising applications in bioimaging. We have demonstrated that various types of collagen, conveniently produced by recombinant technology, can be used to modify silica nanoparticles with nice characteristics such as mono‐dispersion, non‐interference in fluorescence and low toxicity. It may endow fluorescent silica nanoparticles with broad biological applications.     

Ultrastable, redispersible, small, and highly organomodified mesoporous silica nanotherapeutics

Practical biomedical application of mesoporous silica nanoparticles is limited by poor particle dispersity and stability due to serious irreversible aggregation in biological media. To solve this problem, hydrothermally treated mesoporous silica nanoparticles of small size with dual-organosilane (hydrophilic and hydrophobic silane) surface modification have been synthesized. These highly organomodified mesoporous silica nanoparticles were characterized by transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, N(2) adsorption-desorption, dynamic light scattering, zeta potential, and solid-state (29)Si NMR, and they prove to be very stable in simulated body fluid at physiological temperature. Additionally, they can be dried to a powdered solid and easily redispersed in biological media, maintaining their small size for a period of at least 15 days. Furthermore, this preparation method can be expanded to synthesize redispersible fluorescent and magnetic mesoporous silica nanoparticles. The highly stable and redispersible mesoporous silica NPs show minimal toxicity during in vitro cellular assays. Most importantly, two types of doxorubicin, water-soluble doxorubicin and poorly water-soluble doxorubicin, can be loaded into these highly stable mesoporous silica nanoparticles, and these drug-loaded nanoparticles can also be well-redispersed in aqueous solution. Enhanced cytotoxicity to cervical cancer (HeLa) cells was found upon treatment with water-soluble doxorubicin-loaded nanoparticles compared to free water-soluble doxorubicin. These results suggest that highly stable, redispersible, and small mesoporous silica nanoparticles are promising agents for in vivo biomedical applications.     

Fluorescent nanoparticles for intracellular sensing: A review

Fluorescent nanoparticles (NPs), including semiconductor NPs (Quantum Dots), metal NPs, silica NPs, polymer NPs, etc., have been a major focus of research and development during the past decade. The fluorescent nanoparticles show unique chemical and optical properties, such as brighter fluorescence, higher photostability and higher biocompatibility, compared to classical fluorescent organic dyes. Moreover, the nanoparticles can also act as multivalent scaffolds for the realization of supramolecular assemblies, since their high surface to volume ratio allow distinct spatial domains to be functionalized, which can provide a versatile synthetic platform for the implementation of different sensing schemes. Their excellent properties make them one of the most useful tools that chemistry has supplied to biomedical research, enabling the intracellular monitoring of many different species for medical and biological purposes. In this review, we focus on the developments and analytical applications of fluorescent nanoparticles in chemical and biological sensing within the intracellular environment. The review also points out the great potential of fluorescent NPs for fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM). Finally, we also give an overview of the current methods for delivering of fluorescent NPs into cells, where critically examine the benefits and liabilities of each strategy.     

Rational Design of a Near-infrared Fluorescent Material with High Solid-state Efficiency,Aggregation-induced Emission and Live Cell Imaging Property

Near-infrared(NIR) fluorescent materials with high photoluminescent quantum yields(PLQYs) have wide application prospects. Therefore, we design and synthesize a D-A type NIR organic molecule, TPATHCNE, in which triphenylamine and thiophene are utilized as the donors and fumaronitrile is applied as the acceptor. We systematically investigate its molecular structure and photophysical property. TPATHCNE shows high T_gof 110℃ and T_d of 385℃ and displays an aggregation-induced emission(AIE) property. A narrow optical bandgap of 1.65 eV is obtained. The non-doped film of TPATHCNE exhibits a high PLQY of 40.3% with an emission peak at 732 nm, which is among the best values of NIR emitters. When TPATHCNE is applied in organic light-emitting diode(OLED), the electroluminescent peak is located at 716 nm with a maximum external quantum efficiency of 0.83%. With the potential in cell imaging, the polystyrene maleic anhydride(PMSA) modified TPATHCNE nanoparticles(NPs) emit strong fluorescence when labeling HeLa cancer cells, suggesting that TPATHCNE can be used as a fluorescent carrier for specific staining or drug delivery for cellular imaging. TPATHCNE NPs fabricated by bovine serum protein(BSA) are cultivated with mononuclear yeast cells, and the intense intracellular red fluorescence indicates that it can be adopted as a specific stain for imaging.     

Conjugated Polymer Nanoparticles for Cell Membrane Imaging

The outstanding optical properties and biocompatibility of fluorescent conjugated polymer nanoparticles (CPNs) make them favorable for bioimaging application. However, few CPNs could achieve stable cell membrane labeling due to cell endocytosis. In this work, conjugated polymer nanoparticles (PFPNP‐PLE) encapsulated with PFP and PLGA‐PEG‐N₃ in the matrix and functionalized with the small‐molecule drug plerixafor (PLE) on the surface were prepared by a mini‐emulsion method. PFPNP‐PLE exhibits excellent photophysical properties, low cytotoxicity, and specific cytomembrane location, which makes it a potential cell membrane labeling reagent with blue fluorescence emission, an important component for multilabel/multicolor bioimaging.     

Preparation of luminescent Cy5 doped core-shell SFNPs and its application as a near-infrared fluorescent marker

Cy5 dye is widely used as a biomarker in the research fields of life science because of its excitation at wavelengths above 600 nm where autofluorescence of bio-matter is much reduced. However, Cy5 dye could not be encapsulate into silica directly to form stable nanoparticles by using of the traditional methods. In this paper, an improved method had been developed to prepare Cy5 dye doped core-shell silica fluorescent nanoparticles (SFNPs), employing biomolecules conjugated Cy5 as the core material and silica coating produced from the hydrolysis TEOS (tetraethyl orthosilicate) in the water-in-oil microemulsion. To obtain stable Cy5 dye doped SFNPs with core-shell structure, five kinds of biomolecules with different iso-electric point (pI) have been selected to conjugate Cy5 for preparation of core-shell SFNPs. Results demonstrated that very bright and photostable Cy5 doped core-shell SFNPs could be both prepared by use of positive polysine conjugated Cy5 or IgG conjugated Cy5 as the core material, respectively. IgG conjugated Cy5 doped core-shell SFNPs was selected as a demonstration to be characterized and applied as a near-infrared fluorescent marker in cell recognition. The results showed that Cy5 doped core-shell SFNPs prepared by conjugating with a positive biomolecules IgG as the core material were luminescent and stable. About 110 Cy5 dye molecules could be doped in one nanoparticle with size of 42 ± 5 nm. The breast cancer cells had been selectively recognized by use of the near-infrared fluorescent marker based on the Cy5-IgG doped core-shell SFNPs. And the results demonstrated that this Cy5 doped core-shell SFNPs fluorescence marker was superior to the pure Cy5 dye marker for cell recognition in photostability and detection sensitivity.     

Optimization of dye-doped silica nanoparticles prepared using a reverse microemulsion method

Fluorescent labeling based on silica nanoparticles facilitates unique applications in bioanalysis and bioseparation. Dye-doped silica nanoparticles have significant advantages over single-dye labeling in signal amplification, photostability and surface modification for various biological applications. We have studied the formation of tris(2,2'-bipyridyl)dichlororuthenium(II) (Ru(bpy)) dye-doped silica nanoparticles by ammonia-catalyzed hydrolysis of tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) in water-in-oil microemulsion. The fluorescence spectra, particle size, and size distribution of Ru(bpy) dye-doped silica nanoparticles were examined as a function of reactant concentrations (TEOS and ammonium hydroxide), nature of surfactant molecules, and molar ratios of water to surfactant (R) and cosurfactant to surfactant (p). The particle size and fluorescence spectra were dependent upon the type of microemulsion system chosen. The particle size was found to decrease with an increase in concentration of ammonium hydroxide and increase in water to surfactant molar ratio (R) and cosurfactant to surfactant molar ratio (p). This optimization study of the preparation of dye-doped silica nanoparticles provides a fundamental knowledge of the synthesis and optical properties of Ru(bpy) dye-doped silica nanoparticles. With this information, these nanoparticles can be easily manipulated, with regard to particle size and size distribution, and bioconjugated as needed for bioanalysis and bioseparation applications.     

Signaling Pathways Regulated by Silica Nanoparticles

Silica nanoparticles are a class of molecules commonly used in drug or gene delivery systems that either facilitate the delivery of therapeutics to specific drug targets or enable the efficient delivery of constructed gene products into biological systems. Some in vivo or in vitro studies have demonstrated the toxic effects of silica nanoparticles. Despite the availability of risk management tools in response to the growing use of synthetic silica in commercial products, the molecular mechanism of toxicity induced by silica nanoparticles is not well characterized. The purpose of this study was to elucidate the effects of silica nanoparticle exposure in three types of cells including human aortic endothelial cells, mouse-derived macrophages, and A549 non-small cell lung cancer cells using toxicogenomic analysis. The results indicated that among all three cell types, the TNF and MAPK signaling pathways were the common pathways upregulated by silica nanoparticles. These findings may provide insight into the effects of silica nanoparticle exposure in the human body and the possible mechanism of toxicity.     

Microwave-assisted synthesis of biofunctional and fluorescent silicon nanoparticles using proteins as hydrophilic ligands

Protective shell: A microwave-assisted method allows rapid production of biofunctional and fluorescent silicon nanoparticles (SiNPs), which can be used for cell labeling. Such SiNPs feature excellent aqueous dispersibility, are strongly fluorescent, storable, photostable, stable at different pH values, and biocompatible. The method opens new avenues for designing multifunctional SiNPs and related silicon nanostructures.     

Anti-Her-2 monoclonal antibody conjugated polymer fluorescent nanoparticles probe for ovarian cancer imaging

Fluorescent nanoparticles (FNPs) with unique optical properties may be useful as biosensors in living cancer cell imaging and cancer targeting. A novel kind of polymer fluorescent nanoparticles (PFNPs) was synthesized and its application for ovarian cancer imaging with fluorescence microscopy imaging technology was presented in this study. The PFNPs were synthesized with precipitation polymerization by using methacrylic acid (MAA) as monomer, trimethylolpropane trimethacrylate (Trim) as cross-linker, azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN) as radical initiator and butyl rhodamine B (BTRB) as fluorescent dye. And the fluorescent dye was embedded into the three-dimensional network of the polymer when the polymer was produced. With this method the PFNPs can be prepared easily. And then the PFNPs were successfully modified with anti-Her-2 monoclonal antibody. The fluorescence probe based on anti-Her-2 monoclonal antibody conjugated PFNPs has been used to detect ovarian cancer cells with fluorescence microscopy imaging technology. The experimental results demonstrate that the anti-Her-2 monoclonal antibody conjugated PFNPs can effectively recognize ovarian cancer cells and exhibit good sensitivity and exceptional photostability, which would provide a novel way for the diagnosis and curative effect observation of ovarian cancer cells.     

Exploring the Condensation Reaction between Aromatic Nitriles and Amino Thiols To Optimize In Situ Nanoparticle Formation for the Imaging of Proteases and Glycosidases in Cells

The condensation reaction between 6-hydroxy-2-cyanobenzothiazole (CBT) and cysteine has been shown for various applications such as site-specific protein labelling and in vivo cancer imaging. This report further expands the substrate scope of this reaction by varying the substituents on aromatic nitriles and amino thiols and testing their reactivity and ability to form nanoparticles for cell imaging. The structure–activity relationship study leads to the identification of the minimum structural requirement for the macrocyclization and assembly process in forming nanoparticles. One of the scaffolds made of 2-pyrimidinecarbonitrile and cysteine joined by a benzyl linker was applied to design fluorescent probes for imaging caspase-3/7 and β-galactosidase activity in live cells. These results demonstrate the generality of this system for imaging hydrolytic enzymes.     

Fluorescent AIE dots encapsulated organically modified silica (ORMOSIL) nanoparticles for two-photon cellular imaging

2,3-Bis(4-(phenyl(4-(1,2,2-triphenylvinyl)phenyl)amino)phenyl) fumaronitrile (TPE-TPA-FN or TTF), which possesses aggregation-induced emission (AIE) characteristic, is doped in organically modified silica (ORMOSIL) nanoparticles. By increasing the weight ratio of TTF to the precursor of silica nanoparticles (the quantities of the precursors were kept the same), the fluorescence intensity of nanoparticles increased correspondingly, due to the formation of larger AIE dots in the cores of ORMOSIL nanoparticles. The fluorescent and biocompatible nanoprobes were then utilized for in vitro imaging of HeLa cells. Two-photon fluorescence microscopy clearly illustrated that the nanoparticles have the capacity of nucleus permeability, as well as cytoplasm staining towards tumor cells. Our experimental results may offer a promising method for fast and bright fluorescence imaging, as well as bio-molecule/drug delivery to cell nucleus.     

A Novel Magneto-fluorescent Nano-bioprobe for Cancer Cell Targeting,Imaging and Collection

Silica-coated magnetic polystyrene nanospheres (MPN) containing CdTe/CdS quantum dots (QDs) and Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles were prepared, and novel anti-EGFR antibodies were conjugated onto these magneto-fluorescent nanocomposites (MPN–QDs–SiO₂) for cancer cell targeting, imaging and collection. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images and energy-dispersive x-ray spectrometry (EDS) data showed that the MPN had been successfully coated with QDs and a silica shell, and the nanocomposites obtained with negative charged surfaces were well dispersed. The bioconjugates could be used for specifically labeling and separating cancer cells (MDA-MB-435S, SMMC-7721), but did not recognize and separate the K562 cells because the human epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) was not expressed on the surface. Because the anti-EGFR antibody, which we have developed, could specifically recognize certain cancer cells that highly expressed EGFR on their surface, these nanoscale bioconjugates, synchronously exhibiting fluorescence and magnetism, may be used in novel bioprobes for labeling and collecting rare cancer cells, which may be beneficial for early cancer diagnosis.