Synthesis and Characterization of New Magnetofluorescent Silicon Dot for Theranostic Application

Abstract

Introduction. Breast cancer is the leading cause of mortality for women, and effort is being made to provide an agent which has both imaging and therapeutic effects (theranostics) which can improve the survival, economic burden, and outcomes. Methods. In this research, for the first time, we introduce a new magnetophotoluminescent quantum dot (Mn-Si-QD) capable of DOX loading. Mn-Si-QD was synthesized and evaluated by FT-IR, UV-Vis, fluorescence, SEM, and TEM. The impacts of various factors such as reaction time and reaction temperature were investigated to reach the optimum fluorescence properties. Toxicity on normal and cancerous cells was evaluated with an MTT assay. Results. The characterization analysis confirmed successful synthesis, and the MTT assay showed no cytotoxicity on normal cells and showed toxicity on cancerous cells. Magnetopotential showed no difference when compared using OmniScan. In vivo fluorescence imaging was considered and indicated the acceptable (25% ID/g) uptake on the tumor region. The biodistribution study also confirmed the accumulation of the magnetophotoluminescent quantum dot in the tumor site. Conclusion. Our research indicated that DOX-loaded Mn-Si-QD is both noninvasive and an agent that can be hopefully used in theranostics.