title: General and facile surface functionalization of hydrophobic nanocrystals with poly(amino acid) for cell luminescence imaging.
abstract: Hydrophobic nanocrystals with various shape, size, and chemical composition were successfully functionalized by poly(amino acid) with one particle per micelle without aggregation or precipitation via a facile, general, and low-cost strategy. Via simply tuning the pH value, multifunctional nanocomposites consisting of different nanocrystals were also fabricated. Due to the poly(amino acid) coating, these nanocrystals are highly water-stable, biocompatible, and bioconjugatable with chemical and biological moieties. Meanwhile, their shape, size, optical/magnetic properties are well retained, which is highly desirable for bioapplications. This developed strategy presents a novel opportunity to apply hydrophobic nanocrystals to various biomedical fields.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, School of Science, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China.
authors.forename: Sheng
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bai
authors.forename: Leyu
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000596:Amino Acids / Q000737:chemistry*; D058948:Cell Tracking; D004655:Emulsions; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D057927:Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions; D008163:Luminescent Measurements; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; D013499:Surface Properties
chemical_list: D000596:Amino Acids; D004655:Emulsions