Department of Bionanotechnology, Gachon University , Gyeonggi-do, 13120, Republic of Korea.
Department of Biological Engineering, Biohybrid Systems Research Center (BSRC), Inha University , Incheon, 22212, Republic of Korea.
Bioconjug Chem. 2018 Feb 21;29(2):363-370. doi: 10.1021/acs.bioconjchem.7b00683. Epub 2018 Jan 11.
Curcumin-conjugated gold clusters (CUR-AuNCs) were synthesized using a "green" procedure and utilized as an anticancer and a bioimaging agent. Curcumin is a well-known anticancer agent, which forms a cluster when reacting with a gold precursor under mild alkali condition. A fluorescence spectroscopy analysis showed that the CUR-AuNCs emitted red fluorescence (650 nm) upon visible light (550) irradiation. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analysis confirmed the stretching and bending nature between the gold atoms and curcumin. Meanwhile, transmission electron microscopy analysis showed a cluster of approximately 1-3 nm with a uniform size. Time-resolved fluorescence analysis demonstrated that the red fluorescence was highly stable. Moreover, laser confocal imaging and atomic force microscopy analysis illustrated that a cluster was well distributed in the cell. This cluster exhibited less toxicity in the mortal cell line (COS-7) and high toxicity in the cervical cancer cell line (HeLa). The results demonstrated the conjugation of curcumin into the fluorescent gold cluster as a potential material for anticancer therapy and bioimaging applications.
姜黄素修饰的金纳米簇（CUR-AuNCs）采用“绿色”方法合成，并用作抗癌和生物成像试剂。姜黄素是一种众所周知的抗癌药物，在温和的碱性条件下与金前体反应时形成簇。荧光光谱分析表明，CUR-AuNCs 在可见光（550nm）照射下发出红色荧光（650nm）。傅里叶变换红外光谱分析证实了金原子和姜黄素之间的伸缩和弯曲性质。同时，透射电子显微镜分析表明，簇的大小约为 1-3nm，尺寸均匀。时间分辨荧光分析表明，红色荧光具有高度稳定性。此外，激光共聚焦成像和原子力显微镜分析表明，簇在细胞中分布良好。该簇在致死细胞系（COS-7）中的毒性较小，而在宫颈癌细胞系（HeLa）中的毒性较高。结果表明，将姜黄素结合到荧光金簇中作为抗癌治疗和生物成像应用的潜在材料。
