Department of Applied Chemistry, Graduate School of Engineering, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya 464-8603, Japan.
ImPACT Research Center for Advanced Nanobiodevices, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya 464-8603, Japan.
Sci Rep. 2017 Jan 6;7:40047. doi: 10.1038/srep40047.
The facile synthesis of ZnS-AgInS (ZAIS) as cadmium-free QDs and their application, mainly in solar cells, has been reported by our groups. In the present study, we investigated the safety and the usefulness for labeling and in vivo imaging of a newly synthesized aqueous ZnS-coated ZAIS (ZnS-ZAIS) carboxylated nanoparticles (ZZC) to stem cells. ZZC shows the strong fluorescence in aqueous solutions such as PBS and cell culture medium, and a complex of ZZC and octa-arginine (R8) peptides (R8-ZZC) can achieve the highly efficient labeling of adipose tissue-derived stem cells (ASCs). The cytotoxicity of R8-ZZC to ASCs was found to be extremely low in comparison to that of CdSe-based QDs, and R8-ZZC was confirmed to have no influence on the proliferation rate or the differentiation ability of ASCs. Moreover, R8-ZZC was not found to induce the production of major inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IFN-γ, IL-12p70, IL-6 and MCP-1) in ASCs. Transplanted R8-ZZC-labeled ASCs could be quantitatively detected in the lungs and liver mainly using an in vivo imaging system. In addition, high-speed multiphoton confocal laser microscopy revealed the presence of aggregates of transplanted ASCs at many sites in the lungs, whereas individual ASCs were found to have accumulated in the liver.
我们小组已经报道了一种简便的方法来合成无镉的 ZnS-AgInS（ZAIS）量子点，并将其应用于太阳能电池等领域。在本研究中，我们研究了一种新合成的水溶性 ZnS 包覆的 ZAIS（ZnS-ZAIS）羧基化纳米粒子（ZZC）的安全性和在干细胞标记和体内成像方面的应用。ZZC 在 PBS 和细胞培养基等水溶液中具有很强的荧光，并且 ZZC 与八精氨酸（R8）肽（R8-ZZC）的复合物可以实现对脂肪组织来源干细胞（ASCs）的高效标记。与基于 CdSe 的量子点相比，R8-ZZC 对 ASCs 的细胞毒性极低，并且证实 R8-ZZC 对 ASCs 的增殖率和分化能力没有影响。此外，R8-ZZC 不会诱导 ASCs 产生主要的炎症细胞因子（TNF-α、IFN-γ、IL-12p70、IL-6 和 MCP-1）。使用体内成像系统主要可以定量检测移植到肺部和肝脏中的 R8-ZZC 标记的 ASCs。此外，高速多光子共聚焦激光显微镜显示，在肺部的许多部位都存在移植的 ASCs 聚集，而在肝脏中则发现单个 ASCs 聚集。
