title: Silica nanocapsules of fluorescent conjugated polymers and superparamagnetic nanocrystals for dual-mode cellular imaging.
abstract: We describe here a facile and benign synthetic strategy to integrate the fluorescent behavior of conjugated polymers and superparamagnetic properties of iron oxide nanocrystals into silica nanocapsules, forming a new type of bifunctional magnetic fluorescent silica nanocapsule (BMFSN). The resultant BMFSNs are uniform, colloidally stable in aqueous medium, and exhibit the desired dual functionality of fluorescence and superparamagnetism in a single entity. Four conjugated polymers with different emissions were used to demonstrate the versatility of employing this class of fluorescent materials for the preparation of BMFSNs. The applicability of BMFSNs in cellular imaging was studied by incubating them with human liver cancer cells, the result of which demonstrated that the cells could be visualized by dual-mode fluorescence and magnetic resonance imaging. Furthermore, the superparamagnetic behavior of the BMFSNs was exploited for in vitro magnetic-guided delivery of the nanocapsules into the cancer cells, thereby highlighting their potential for targeting biomedical applications.
authors.affiliation: NUS Graduate School for Integrative Sciences and Engineering (NGS), National University of Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: Happy
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: Miao
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Chang-Tong
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Shilpa
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pant
authors.forename: Kishore Kumar
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Bhakoo
authors.forename: Siew Yee
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.forename: Zhi-Kuan
authors.initials: ZK
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Xu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D005290:Ferric Compounds / Q000737:chemistry*; D005453:Fluorescence; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000473:pathology*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D053769:Nanocapsules / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D053758:Nanoparticles; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D012822:Silicon Dioxide / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D005290:Ferric Compounds; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D053769:Nanocapsules; D011108:Polymers; C000499:ferric oxide; D012822:Silicon Dioxide