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Polyfluorene Nanoparticles Coated with Folate‐Functionalized Triblock Copolymer: Effective Agents for Targeted Cell Imaging |
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| Authors: | Li Liu Abhijit Patra Ullrich Scherf Thomas Kissel |
| Institution: | 1. Department of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmacy, Philipps‐University Marburg, Ketzerbach 63, 35032 Marburg, Germany;2. School of Pharmacy, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Dongchuan Road 800, 200240 Shanghai, China;3. Makromolekulare Chemie, Bergische University Wuppertal, Gauss‐Str. 20, 42119 Wuppertal, Germany |
| Abstract: | An ultra‐bright fluorescence probe comprising conjugated polymer nanoparticles is developed for biological imaging. Highly blue fluorescent polyfluorene nanoparticles (PF‐NPs) stabilized by sodium dodecylsulfate with an average diameter of 100 nm are prepared by a miniemulsion technique. A folate‐conjugated cationic triblock copolymer is employed to coat negatively charged PF‐NPs via electrostatic interaction for specific cell imaging of folate receptor over‐expressing cancer cells. The coated PF‐NPs show a similar size and morphology to the pristine PF‐NPs, while the fluorescence intensity is enhanced. Such surface‐functionalized PF‐NPs are demonstrated to be suitable probes for efficient cell imaging of folate receptor over‐expressing KB cells by CLSM and flow cytometry.  |
| Keywords: | folate imaging nanoparticles polyfluorene targeting |