title: Ultra-photostable, non-cytotoxic, and highly fluorescent quantum nanospheres for long-term, high-specificity cell imaging.
abstract: A new class of fluorescent quantum nanospheres (QNs) is directly achieved in aqueous phase through a facile one-pot microwave irradiation (MWI) strategy. Multi-color QNs with maximum emission wavelengths ranging from 525 to 610 nm and PLQY of 30-60% are facilely prepared through this new MWI strategy. In addition to strong fluorescence, these QNs possess excellent photostability, preserving ∼90% of the original intensity after 70 min high-power UV irradiation (100 W Xeon lamp). In sharp contrast, the fluorescence of CdTe/CdS/ZnS core-shell-shell quantum dots (QDs), recognized as established fluorescent probes with robust photostability, decrease to ∼50% under the same conditions. Besides, cytotoxicity assessment demonstrates that the prepared QNs exhibit favorable cytocompatibility to K562 cells with high concentration (3 μmol) and long-time incubation (24 h). Furthermore, cellular imaging results demonstrate that the as-prepared QNs are remarkably efficacious for long-term and high-specificity immunofluorescent cellular labeling, and multi-color cell imaging. Our systematical investigation clearly shows that these high-performance QNs may serve as practical and powerful tools for various biological researches, such as in vivo and in vitro imaging.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Functional Nano and Soft Materials (FUNSOM) and Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon-based Functional Materials and Devices, Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, China. yaohe@suda.edu.cn
authors.forename: Yao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: Haoting
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Yuanyuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Su
authors.forename: Liman
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sai
authors.forename: Mei
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Chunhai
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.forename: Lianhui
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005453:Fluorescence; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes / Q000737:chemistry*; D057809:HEK293 Cells; D006801:Humans; D020014:K562 Cells; D008027:Light; D057054:Molecular Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D054118:Nanospheres / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D045663:Quantum Dots
chemical_list: D005456:Fluorescent Dyes