title: Gamma-radiation synthesis of silk fibroin coated CdSe quantum dots and their biocompatibility and photostability in living cells.
abstract: Silk fibroin coated CdSe quantum dots (SF-CdSe QDs) were successfully synthesized via a one-step gamma-radiation route in an aqueous system at room temperature. The as prepared products were characterized by transmission electron microscope (TEM), energy dispersion spectrum (EDS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-vis) and photoluminescence spectrum (PL). The SF-CdSe QDs were about 5 nm in diameter and exhibited excellent water-solubility and photoluminescence properties. The cellular distribution, photostability and cytotoxicity of SF-CdSe QDs with different amount of SF coatings were also investigated by laser scanning confocal microscope (LSCM) and MTT assays in human pancreatic carcinoma (PANC-1) cells. All the results reveal that these QDs could be easily internalized by cells and localized in cytoplasm around nuclei. Moreover, SF-CdSe QDs were proved to be low cytotoxicity (the concentration of QDs < 5 microg mL(-1)) and high photostability (the illumination energy density < 2 x 10(-5) W microm(-2)) within PANC-1 cells, which was mainly due to the biocompatible silk fibroin. The resulted SF-CdSe QDs might have many potential applications in tumor imaging and therapy. And the synthesis strategy could be easily extended to fabrication of other nanoparticles coated with silk fibroin.
authors.affiliation: College of Material Science and Technology, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 210016, PR China.
authors.forename: Shu-Quan
authors.initials: SQ
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Yao-Dong
authors.initials: YD
authors.lastname: Dai
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Da
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D019187:Cadmium Compounds / Q000737:chemistry*; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D005349:Fibroins / Q000737:chemistry*; D005720:Gamma Rays; D006801:Humans; D008027:Light; D049449:Luminescence; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology; D045663:Quantum Dots; D018036:Selenium Compounds / Q000737:chemistry*; D047011:Silk / Q000737:chemistry*; D012995:Solubility; D013056:Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; D014961:X-Ray Diffraction
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D019187:Cadmium Compounds; D018036:Selenium Compounds; D047011:Silk; D005349:Fibroins; C058667:cadmium selenide