title: A galvanic replacement route to prepare strongly fluorescent and highly stable gold nanodots for cellular imaging.
abstract: Fluorescent gold nanodots (GNDs) are an important kind of nanoprobes. Herein, the application of galvanic replacement for the preparation of fluorescent GNDs is reported. Using presynthesized and size-controlled Ag nanodots (Ag NDs) as templates, the as-prepared GNDs have strong fluorescence (quantum yields ~10%) with high stability and surface bioactivity. The resultant GNDs show excellent photoluminescence properties with high photo-, time-, metal-, and pH-stability, which are attributed to the protective surface layer of glutathione (GSH) and the presence of Au(I)-S complexes on the surface of the gold core. GSH, a naturally occurring and readily available tripeptide with carboxyl and amino functional groups, allows good dispersion of the as-prepared GNDs in aqueous solution and favorable biocompatibility. These advantages, combined with their small size, mean that the as-prepared GNDs have potential application in biological labeling, especially as a DNA probe for the specific detection of nucleic acids. In this study, the CAL-27 cells are used as a model to evaluate the fluorescence imaging of GNDs.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Supramolecular Structure and Materials, College of Chemistry, Jilin University, Changchun, PR China.
authors.forename: Chuanxi
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Xiaodong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.forename: Xiangwei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Xiaowei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Hongchen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Bai
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Quan
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Lin
mesh_terms: D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D003952:Diagnostic Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D006046:Gold / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000737:chemistry*; D043942:Nanotubes / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000737:chemistry*; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared
chemical_list: D006046:Gold