Highly Fluorescent, Photostable, and Ultrasmall Silicon Drug Nanocarriers for Long‐Term Tumor Cell Tracking and In‐Vivo Cancer Therapy

Abstract

Silicon nanoparticle (SiNP) nanocarriers feature strong fluorescence, ultrasmall size, robust photostability, and tunable drug-loading capacity. Using SiNP nanocarriers, the first example of long-term cancer cell tracking is successfully demonstrated. Furthermore, in vivo experiments show that tumor-bearing mice treated with SiNP nanocarriers survive over 20 d without observable tumor growth, demonstrating the high-efficacy chemotherapy of the Si nanocarriers.

Facile, Large-Quantity Synthesis of Stable, Tunable-Color Silicon Nanoparticles and Their Application for Long-Term Cellular Imaging

“…crystallization as two significant contributors to the observed blue, green, and light green fluorescence, well consistent with previous reports [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][49][50][51][52]. FTIR spectra of the SiNPs, 1,8-naphthalimide, and APS are further measured in our experiment, exhibiting obvious absorption peaks ranging 800-3800 cm -1 (Figure 5).…”

“…[6][7][8][9][10][11]30,31 Tunable fluorescent intensities of SiNPs. The QY value of the as-prepared SiNPs is sensitively dependent on the concentration of 1,8-naphthalimide.…”

Solution Synthesis and Optical Properties of Transition-Metal-Doped Silicon Nanocrystals

“…[3][4][5][6][7] Furthermore, their low toxicity, biocompatibility, and strong resistance to photobleaching make Si NCs favorable candidates for bioimaging. [8][9][10] Doping semiconductor NCs unlocks a host of new and unique properties including a wider range of emission tunability, enhanced electrical transport in thin films, and magnetism. [11][12] Studies of doped NCs have focused primarily on the well-studied II-VI system.…”

Optical Biosensing and Bioimaging With Porous Silicon and Silicon Quantum Dots (Invited Review)

“…Another interesting new frontier was using the particles as theranostic platforms [144,145]. In the example of Ji et al, for the first time that silicon quantum dots were shown to be used as drug carrier ( Figure 9) [146]. This work is important as it opened a new research area of combining the imaging and delivery modality into one nontoxic platform of silicon nanocrystals [146].…”

“…In the example of Ji et al, for the first time that silicon quantum dots were shown to be used as drug carrier ( Figure 9) [146]. This work is important as it opened a new research area of combining the imaging and delivery modality into one nontoxic platform of silicon nanocrystals [146]. Another trend for the field is the incorporation of advanced fluorescence imaging to enhance the capability of particles in fluorescent imaging [120,147].…”