College of Chemistry, Research Center for Analytical Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemical Biology, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Biosensing and Molecular Recognition, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, China.
National Chromatographic Research and Analysis Center, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian, 116023, China.
Mikrochim Acta. 2020 Mar 13;187(4):228. doi: 10.1007/s00604-020-4198-7.
A carbon dots-embedded epitope imprinted polymer (C-MIP) was fabricated for targeted fluorescence imaging of cervical cancer by specifically recognizing the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). The core-shell C-MIP was prepared by a reverse microemulsion polymerization method. This method used silica nanoparticles embedded with carbon dots as carriers, acrylamide as the main functional monomer, and N-terminal nonapeptides of EGFR modified by palmitic acid as templates. A series of characterizations (transmission electron microscope, dynamic light scattering, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, zeta potential, and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy) prove the successful synthesis of C-MIP. The fluorescence of C-MIP is quenched by the epitopes of EGFR due to the specific recognition of epitopes of EGFR through their imprinted cavities (analytical excitation/emission wavelengths, 540 nm/610 nm). The linear range of fluorescence quenching is 2.0 to 15.0 μg mL and the determination limit is 0.73 μg mL. The targeted imaging capabilities of C-MIP are demonstrated through in vitro and in vivo experiments. The laser confocal imaging results indicate that HeLa cells (over-expression EGFR) incubated with C-MIP show stronger fluorescence than that of MCF-7 cells (low-expression EGFR), revealing that C-MIP can target tumor cells overexpressing EGFR. The results of imaging experiments in tumor-bearing mice exhibit that C-MIP has a better imaging effect than C-NIP, which further proves the targeted imaging ability of C-MIP in vivo. Graphical abstract An oriented epitope imprinted polymer embedded with carbon dots was prepared for the determination of the epitopes of epidermal growth factor receptor and targeted fluorescence imaging of cervical cancer.
一种嵌入碳点的表皮生长因子受体印迹聚合物（C-MIP）被制备出来，用于通过特异性识别表皮生长因子受体（EGFR）实现对宫颈癌的靶向荧光成像。核壳型 C-MIP 是通过反相微乳液聚合方法制备的。该方法使用嵌入碳点的硅纳米粒子作为载体，丙烯酰胺作为主要功能单体，以及通过棕榈酸修饰的 EGFR N 端九肽作为模板。一系列的表征（透射电子显微镜、动态光散射、X 射线光电子能谱、傅里叶变换红外光谱、Zeta 电位和能谱分析）证明了 C-MIP 的成功合成。由于通过印迹空腔特异性识别 EGFR 的表位，C-MIP 的荧光被 EGFR 的表位猝灭（分析激发/发射波长，540nm/610nm）。荧光猝灭的线性范围为 2.0 至 15.0μgmL，测定下限为 0.73μgmL。通过体外和体内实验证明了 C-MIP 的靶向成像能力。激光共聚焦成像结果表明，与 MCF-7 细胞（低表达 EGFR）相比，孵育有 C-MIP 的 HeLa 细胞（过表达 EGFR）显示出更强的荧光，表明 C-MIP 可以靶向过表达 EGFR 的肿瘤细胞。荷瘤小鼠成像实验结果表明，C-MIP 的成像效果优于 C-NIP，进一步证明了 C-MIP 在体内的靶向成像能力。
