title: Boron dipyrromethene (BODIPY) functionalized carbon nano-onions for high resolution cellular imaging.
abstract: Carbon nano-onions (CNOs) are an exciting class of carbon nanomaterials, which have recently demonstrated a facile cell-penetration capability. In the present work, highly fluorescent boron dipyrromethene (BODIPY) dyes were covalently attached to the surface of CNOs. The introduction of this new carbon nanomaterial-based imaging platform, made of CNOs and BODIPY fluorophores, allows for the exploration of synergetic effects between the two building blocks and for the elucidation of its performance in biological applications. The high fluorescence intensity exhibited by the functionalized CNOs translates into an excellent in vitro probe for the high resolution imaging of MCF-7 human breast cancer cells. It was also found that the CNOs, internalized by the cells by endocytosis, localized in the lysosomes and did not show any cytotoxic effects. The presented results highlight CNOs as excellent platforms for biological and biomedical studies due to their low toxicity, efficient cellular uptake and low fluorescence quenching of attached probes.
authors.affiliation: Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT), Nano Carbon Materials, Nanophysics Department, Via Morego 30, 16163 Genova, Italy. silvia.giordani@iit.it.
authors.forename: Juergen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bartelmess
authors.forename: Elisa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: De Luca
authors.forename: Angelo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Signorelli
authors.forename: Michele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Baldrighi
authors.forename: Michele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Becce
authors.forename: Rosaria
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Brescia
authors.forename: Valentina
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Nardone
authors.forename: Emilio
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Parisini
authors.forename: Luis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Echegoyen
authors.forename: Pier Paolo
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Pompa
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Giordani
mesh_terms: D001896:Boron Compounds / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D002244:Carbon / Q000737:chemistry*; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D061986:MCF-7 Cells; D008422:Materials Testing; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force; D057054:Molecular Imaging / Q000379:methods; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry*; D061848:Optical Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence / Q000379:methods; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: C095489:4,4-difluoro-4-bora-3a,4a-diaza-s-indacene; D001896:Boron Compounds; D002244:Carbon