State Key Laboratory of Supramolecular Structure and Materials, Jilin University, Changchun, 130012, PR China.
Nanoscale. 2013 Mar 7;5(5):2065-72. doi: 10.1039/c2nr33685e. Epub 2013 Feb 1.
Fluorescent nanoparticles (FNPs) have been found to be useful as visualization tools for biological sensing, probing, imaging, and monitoring. Applied to targeted cancer cell imaging, FNPs are highly desirable for early stage cancer diagnosis and treatment. However, the light emission from most of the FNPs reported is severely limited because of the aggregation-caused quenching (ACQ) effect. Herein, we present highly emissive inorganic-organic nanoparticles with core-shell structures for targeted cancer cell imaging. Coated with a folate-functionalized silica shell, 9,10-distyrylanthracene (DSA) fluorogens with aggregation-induced emission (AIE) properties served as the fluorescent core, affording folate-functionalized fluorescent silica nanoparticles (FFSNPs) with a high fluorescence quantum yield (up to 20%). The FFSNPs are of small size (diameter ~60 nm), monodispersed, stable in aqueous suspension, and pose little toxicity to living cells and thus can be utilized for targeted HeLa cell imaging. In addition, the FFSNPs are mesoporous and therefore can potentially be used as vehicles for controlled, externally activated release of anticancer drugs.
荧光纳米粒子（FNPs）已被发现可作为生物传感、探测、成像和监测的可视化工具。应用于靶向癌细胞成像，FNPs 非常适合早期癌症诊断和治疗。然而，由于聚集引起的猝灭（ACQ）效应，大多数报道的 FNPs 的发光强度受到严重限制。在此，我们提出了具有核壳结构的高发光无机-有机纳米粒子，用于靶向癌细胞成像。用叶酸功能化的硅壳包覆，具有聚集诱导发射（AIE）性质的 9,10-二苯乙烯基蒽（DSA）荧光团作为荧光核，得到荧光量子产率高达 20%的叶酸功能化荧光硅纳米颗粒（FFSNPs）。FFSNPs 尺寸小（直径约 60nm），单分散性好，在水悬浮液中稳定，对活细胞毒性小，因此可用于靶向 HeLa 细胞成像。此外，FFSNPs 具有介孔性，因此可以作为控制、外部激活释放抗癌药物的载体。
