Department of Stomatology, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China.
State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases, National Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
Cell Prolif. 2021 Apr;54(4):e13008. doi: 10.1111/cpr.13008. Epub 2021 Feb 25.
Au nanoclusters (AuNCs) have been used widely in fluorescence bio-imaging because of their good fluorescence, small particle size and non-cytotoxicity. AuNCs are also efficient in computed tomography (CT) imaging. Hence, a dual-modal imaging probe can be constructed without any complicated modification processes by exploiting the excellent performance of AuNCs. In the present study, AuNCs were enriched with mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) to obtain enhanced fluorescence/CT dual-modal imaging, which was capable of acquiring more imaging information for diseases compared with single-mode imaging.
Biocompatible bovine serum albumin (BSA)-capped AuNCs were prepared and loaded into amine-functionalized MSNs to form MSN@AuNCs. BSA-AuNCs, MSNs, and MSN@AuNCs were characterized by ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) spectra, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), fluorescence spectra, and zeta potential. CT imaging was recorded using micro-CT scanning. Fluorescence imaging was measured using confocal laser scanning microscopy and flow cytometry.
The prepared AuNCs and MSNs possessed good properties as previously reported. The fluorescence intensity and CT value of the AuNCs were enhanced after being enriched with MSNs. The nanoparticles were both non-cytotoxic. Confocal laser scanning microscopy and flow cytometry indicated that MSN@AuNCs in CAL-27 cells showed improved fluorescence imaging compared with simple AuNCs at the same concentration.
The results revealed that the strategy of enriching AuNCs with MSNs can obtain highly sensitive fluorescence/CT dual-modal imaging, which indicated the potential of this nanoparticle in the diagnosis and treatment of disease.
金纳米簇（AuNCs）由于其良好的荧光性、小粒径和非细胞毒性而被广泛应用于荧光生物成像。AuNCs 在计算机断层扫描（CT）成像中也很有效。因此，通过利用 AuNCs 的优异性能，无需任何复杂的修饰过程，就可以构建出双模式成像探针。在本研究中，通过介孔硅纳米粒子（MSNs）对 AuNCs 进行了富集，以获得增强的荧光/CT 双模式成像，与单模式成像相比，它能够获取更多的疾病成像信息。
制备了具有生物相容性的牛血清白蛋白（BSA）包裹的 AuNCs，并将其装载到胺功能化的 MSNs 中形成 MSN@AuNCs。通过紫外-可见（UV-vis）光谱、透射电子显微镜（TEM）、荧光光谱和 Zeta 电位对 BSA-AuNCs、MSNs 和 MSN@AuNCs 进行了表征。使用微 CT 扫描记录 CT 成像。通过共聚焦激光扫描显微镜和流式细胞术测量荧光成像。
所制备的 AuNCs 和 MSNs 具有先前报道的良好性能。MSNs 富集后的 AuNCs 的荧光强度和 CT 值增强。这些纳米粒子均无细胞毒性。共聚焦激光扫描显微镜和流式细胞术表明，在相同浓度下，CAL-27 细胞中的 MSN@AuNCs 与简单的 AuNCs 相比，荧光成像得到了改善。
结果表明，用 MSNs 富集 AuNCs 的策略可以获得高灵敏度的荧光/CT 双模式成像，这表明该纳米粒子在疾病的诊断和治疗中有应用潜力。
