Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis of Tumor Cell Invasion Using Au Clusters

Abstract

Tumor invasion/metastasis is still the major cause of death in cancer patients. Membrane type-1 matrix metalloproteinase (MT1-MMP) is directly related to tumor invasion/metastasis. To accurately and quickly distinguish the risk of invasion/metastasis of primary tumor cells, it is urgent to develop a simple and precise quantitative method to distinguish the expression level of MT1-MMP. In this work, we have constructed red fluorescent Au clusters with peroxidase-like properties that could specifically bind to MT1-MMP on human cervical cancer cells. After MT1-MMP was labelled with Au clusters, we could visually see red fluorescence of MT1-MMP on cervical cancer cells via fluorescence microscopy and catalytic color imaging using an ordinary optical microscope. The constructed Au clusters contained 26 Au atoms; thus, the amount of MT1-MMP on cervical cancer cells could be accurately quantified using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). More importantly, the invasion/metastasis capabilities of the cervical cancer Siha, Caski and Hela cells with different MT1-MMP amounts could be accurately distinguished by fluorescence/catalysis qualitative imaging and ICP-MS quantitative analysis. This method of qualitative/quantitative analysis of tumor-associated proteins on cancer cells has great potential for accurately diagnosing aggressive tumor cells and assessment of their invasion/metastasis risk.

3D printed PCLA scaffold with nano‐hydroxyapatite coating doped green tea EGCG promotes bone growth and inhibits multidrug‐resistant bacteria colonization

“…Cell motility is an important indicator for evaluating cell viability. 37 , 38 Wound‐healing studies showed that the motility of HepG2 cells was not affected by different PCLA scaffolds treatment, further proving that these scaffolds were not toxic to cells (Figure 4F,G ). As expected, coated scaffolds did not exhibit cytotoxicity to A549 cells (Figure S6 ).…”

“…As depicted in Figure 4E, after treatment with different coating PCLA scaffolds, the count of HepG2 cells did not decrease, indicating that these scaffolds had good biosafety for HepG2 cells. Cell motility is an important indicator for evaluating cell viability 37,38 . Wound‐healing studies showed that the motility of HepG2 cells was not affected by different PCLA scaffolds treatment, further proving that these scaffolds were not toxic to cells (Figure 4F,G).…”

Large-size gold–aluminum alloy cluster Al12Au60 stabilized by an encapsulating B12 icosahedron: a first-principles study

“…Over the preceding decades, heightened attention has been directed towards Au clusters due to their extensive utility in * Author to whom any correspondence should be addressed. catalytic applications [4][5][6], nanoelectronic devices [7] and biomedical science [8,9]. Preliminary investigations of Au clusters have unveiled that the most stable Au clusters are typified by organized closely packed arrangements, such as the octahedral face-centered cubic (fcc) structure [10], twin fcc structure [11], twin hexagonal closed packed (hcp) structure [12], truncated icosahedral structure [13] and truncated decahedral structure [14].…”

Metal Cluster Triggered-Assembling Heterogeneous Au-Ag Nanoclusters with Highly Loading Performance and Biocompatible Capability

“…Shi et al have successfully synthesized chiral Au NCs assemblies with strong circular dichroism (CD) by using atomically precise Au NCs to fabricate ordered assembled structures with emerging optical activity [ 46 ]. By understanding the mechanism of assembly structure, noble metal NCs would be excellent candidates for assembled building blocks [ 47 , 48 ]. Due to their thermodynamic stability, the number of constituent atoms of various types can be easily synthesized in large quantities and could assemble heterogeneous structure at the atomic level [ 49 ].…”