title: Conjugated polymer loaded nanospheres with surface functionalization for simultaneous discrimination of different live cancer cells under single wavelength excitation.
abstract: Two conjugated polymers, poly[9,9-bis(2-(2-(2-methoxyethoxy)ethoxy)ethyl) fluorenyldivinylene] (PFV) and the PFV derivative containing 10 mol % 2,1,3-benzothiadiazole (BT) units (PFVBT), have been synthesized and employed to fabricate conjugated polymer loaded nanospheres for simultaneous discrimination of mixed live cancer cells in one solution. The incorporation of BT units into the PFV backbone leads to PFVBT with a similar absorption maximum but significantly red-shifted emission in film state as compared to those of PFV, due to aggregation enhanced energy transfer from the fluorenevinylene segments to electron-deficient BT units. Both conjugated polymer loaded nanospheres have shown optical features that are similar to their film states, which allow simultaneous multichannel signal collection with negligible interference upon excitation at a single wavelength. After further surface functionalization with antihuman epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) affibody or arginine-glycine-aspartic acid (RGD) peptide, the distinct fluorescence from PFV or PFVBT loaded nanospheres allows differentiation of SKBR-3 breast cancer cells (HER2 overexpression) from HT-29 colon cancer cells (integrin receptor overexpression) in live cell mixtures. The conjugated polymer loaded nanospheres with high quantum yield, low cytotoxicity, and multiple color emission upon single laser excitation are ideal for simultaneous multiple-target imaging and detection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, National University of Singapore, 4 Engineering Drive 4, Singapore 117576, Singapore.
authors.forename: Kai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Ruoyu
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zhan
authors.forename: Si-Shen
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000906:Antibodies / Q000276:immunology; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002469:Cell Separation / Q000379:methods*; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D007834:Lasers; D051379:Mice; D041681:NIH 3T3 Cells; D054118:Nanospheres / Q000737:chemistry*; D009842:Oligopeptides / Q000737:chemistry; D011108:Polymers / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000633:toxicity; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D013499:Surface Properties; D013830:Thiadiazoles / Q000737:chemistry; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D000906:Antibodies; D009842:Oligopeptides; D011108:Polymers; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases; D013830:Thiadiazoles; C015700:benzo-1,2,3-thiadiazole; C047981:arginyl-glycyl-aspartic acid