Centre for Advanced Materials, Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, Kolkata-700032, India.
Phys Chem Chem Phys. 2011 Jan 14;13(2):385-96. doi: 10.1039/c0cp00726a. Epub 2010 Nov 10.
One goal of nanotechnology is to prepare cellular nanoprobes for various biological applications where conventional molecular probes fall short of long-term stability and simultaneous detection of multiple signals. Successful development of cellular nanoprobes requires the availability of a library of functional nanoparticles, knowledge of their interactions with cells and mechanism of cellular entry and to modulate these interactions by appropriate design of surface functionality. Although a great deal of research has been done in past 15 years, only limited success has been achieved in live cell labeling with high specificity, sub-cellular targeting and single molecule trafficking. This article focuses on the author's effort in making cellular imaging nanoprobes from different nanoparticles and discusses the most critical issues in the context of current knowledge, such as different variables that often influence labeling, non-specific binding/uptake of nanoprobes and specific live cell labeling. Finally, the important role of coating chemistry to overcome these problems has been highlighted and some successful labeling results have been summarized.
纳米技术的一个目标是制备用于各种生物学应用的细胞纳米探针，因为传统的分子探针在长期稳定性和同时检测多个信号方面存在不足。细胞纳米探针的成功开发需要功能纳米粒子库的可用性、了解它们与细胞的相互作用以及细胞进入的机制，并通过适当的表面功能设计来调节这些相互作用。尽管在过去的 15 年中已经进行了大量的研究，但在具有高特异性、亚细胞靶向和单分子运输的活细胞标记方面仅取得了有限的成功。本文重点介绍了作者在使用不同纳米粒子制备细胞成像纳米探针方面的努力，并根据当前知识讨论了最关键的问题，例如经常影响标记的不同变量、纳米探针的非特异性结合/摄取和特定的活细胞标记。最后，强调了涂层化学的重要作用，以克服这些问题，并总结了一些成功的标记结果。
