One-Step Synthesis of Water-Dispersible and Biocompatible Silicon Nanoparticles for Selective Heparin Sensing and Cell Imaging

Abstract

A sensitive and selective fluorescence "turn-off" sensor to detect heparin using water-soluble silicon nanoparticles (Si NPs) was developed for the first time. The Si NPs were synthesized by a simple one-step procedure, which did not need high-temperature and complex modification. The as-prepared Si NPs featured strong fluorescence, favorable biocompatibility, and robust photo- and pH stability. Significantly, the Si NPs were induced to assemble or aggregate via hydrogen bonding, which resulted in the fluorescence of Si NPs quenched. Under the optimized conditions, the linear range was obtained from 0.02 to 2.0 μg/mL, with a limit of detection of 18 ng/mL (equal to 0.004 U/mL). It was lower than the proper therapeutic level of heparin during cardiovascular surgery and long-term therapy. This proposed method was relatively free of interference from heparin analogues, which commonly existed in heparin samples and could possibly affect heparin detection. Moreover, it did not need to introduce any control medium. As expected, the method was successfully applied to detect heparin in human serum samples with satisfactory recovery ranging from 98.8 to 102.5%. The Si NPs were superbly suitable for cell imaging owing to the negligible cytotoxicity and excellent biocompatibility.

Toxicological Evaluation of Luminescent Silica Nanoparticles as New Drug Nanocarriers in Different Cancer Cell Lines

“…The Si QDs were prepared by adding 1 mL of APTES to 4 mL of bi-distilled water while stirring. Then, 1.25 mL of 0.1 M of sodium ascorbate were added to the above mixture and stirred for 1 h at 40 °C [4,20]. Then, 2 mL of IPTES were added to the mixture and stirred for 2 h at room temperature.…”

“…However, for application in biological systems, SiQDs must be water-soluble. Based on this evidence, several methods for the aqueous synthesis of silicon quantum dots have been described in the literature [3,4,18,19,20]. Despite the intense efforts to construct numerous drug nanocarriers for tumor-target drug delivery, knowledge about the toxic, pharmacokinetic, and pharmacodynamic effects of these nanomaterials is still lacking [21].…”

Silicon nanoparticles synthesized using a microwave method and used as a label‐free fluorescent probe for detection of VB12

“…The N 1s spectrum (Fig. S1c) manifested that the peaks at 399.5 and 401.4 eV represented N–(C) 3 and N–H . The two peaks at 531.1 and 532.0 eV in the O 1s spectrum (Fig.…”

“…To date, common fluorescence quenching mechanisms involve aggregation‐induced quenching, electron transfer (ET), fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) and inner filter effect (IFE). Aggregation‐induced quenching mainly depends on molecular interactions such as electrostatic adsorption, coordination and hydrogen bonding interaction . Fluorescence quenching occurring through ET is based on non‐radiative electron/hole recombination annihilation.…”

SERS spectral study of HAuCl4-cysteine nanocatalytic reaction and its application for detection of heparin sodium with label-free VB4r molecular probe

“…The detection result was good, but the operation was complex, and detecting cost was high. The other type was chemical method, mainly included chromatography282930, fluorescence313233, spectrophotometry3435 and so on. Although the operation was simple, the results were greatly influenced by many factors.…”