Facile Construction of Near Infrared Fluorescence Nanoprobe with Amphiphilic Protein-Polymer Bioconjugate for Targeted Cell Imaging

Abstract

A simple, straightforward, and reproducible strategy for the construction of a near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence nanoprobe was developed by coating CuInS 2 /ZnS quantum dots (CIS/ZnS QDs) with a novel amphiphilic bioconjugate. The amphiphilic bioconjugate with a tailor-designed structure of bovine serum albumin (BSA) as the hydrophilic segment and poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) as the hydrophobic part was fabricated by chemical coupling the hydrophobic polymer chain to BSA via the maleimide−sulfhydryl reaction. By incorporating CIS/ZnS QDs into the hydrophobic cores of the self-assembly of BSA-PCL conjugate, the constructed NIR fluorescence nanoprobe exhibited excellent fluorescent properties over a wide pH range (pH 3−10) and a good colloidal stability in PBS buffer (pH = 7.4) with or without 10% fetal bovine serum. The presence of the outer BSA shell effectively reduced the nonspecific cellular binding and imparted high biocompatibility and low-toxicity to the probe. Moreover, the NIR fluorescence nanoprobe could be functionalized by conjugating cyclic Arg-Gly-Asp (cRGD) peptide, and the decorated nanoprobe was shown to be highly selective for targeted integrin α v β 3 -overexpressed tumor cell imaging. The feasibility of the constructed NIR fluorescence probe in vivo application was further investigated and the results demonstrated its great potential for in vivo imaging. This developed protocol for phase transfer of the CIS/ZnS QDs was universal and applicable to other nanoparticles stabilized with hydrophobic ligands.

Strategies for Preparing Albumin-based Nanoparticles for Multifunctional Bioimaging and Drug Delivery

“…Albumin-stabilized nanoparticles could be used for targeted bioimaging both in vitro and in vivo 198 , 211 , 212 . Multimodal probes have been widely studied to utilize the advantages of different imaging modalities.…”

Therapy of cervical cancer using131I-labeled nanoparticles

“…The RGD-BSA-PCL liposome was labeled with fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC), 10 which can be easily imaged using confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM). The cellular uptake, targeting, and therapeutic effects of RGD-BSA-PCL are published.…”

The Photoluminescence and Biocompatibility of CuInS2-Based Ternary Quantum Dots and Their Biological Applications

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