title: Incorporation of magnetite nanoparticle clusters in fluorescent silica nanoparticles for high-performance brain tumor delineation.
abstract: Bifunctional nanoprobes with both magnetic and optical contrast have been developed for ultra-sensitive brain tumor imaging at the cellular level. The nanoprobes were synthesized by simultaneously incorporating a magnetite nanoparticle cluster and fluorescence dyes into silica encapsulation by a sol-gel approach under ultrasonic treatment. The nanoprobes maintain superparamagnetic behavior at room temperature and possess enhanced transverse relaxivity and good photostability. As a glioma targeting ligand, chlorotoxin was covalently bonded to the surface of the nanoprobes. In vitro cellular uptake assays demonstrated that the nanoprobes were highly specific, taken up by human U251-MG glioma cells via receptor-mediated endocytosis. The labeled glioma cells were readily detectable by both MR imager and confocal laser scanning microscopy.
authors.affiliation: School of Materials Science and Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Jiaqi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wan
authors.forename: Xiangxi
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Meng
authors.forename: Enzhong
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Kezheng
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D052203:Ferrosoferric Oxide / Q000737:chemistry*; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes / Q000737:chemistry*; D005910:Glioma / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D012604:Scorpion Venoms / Q000737:chemistry; D012822:Silicon Dioxide / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D012604:Scorpion Venoms; C091539:Chlorotoxin; D012822:Silicon Dioxide; D052203:Ferrosoferric Oxide