title: Fluorescent nanoparticles from starch: facile preparation, tunable luminescence and bioimaging.
abstract: Fluorescent organic nanoparticles (FONs) based on carbohydrate polymers were prepared through one-pot hydrothermal treatment of starch in the presence of polyethyleneimine. These FONs (named as PEI-Starch FONs) were characterized by a series of techniques including UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy, fluorescent spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Results showed that the size of PEI-Starch FONs is 10-30 nm. The PEI-Starch FONs exhibited high water dispersibility because of the existence of hydrophilic functional groups on their surface. After excited with different wavelength, PEI-Starch FONs emitted strong and excitation-dependent fluorescence. To evaluate their potential for biomedical applications, biocompatibility and cell uptake behavior of PEI-Starch FONs were further investigated. We demonstrated that PEI-Starch FONs are biocompatible with cells and can be easily internalized by cells within 3h. Taken together, novel FONs have been prepared via a simple and scalable hydrothermal method using starch and polyethyleneimine as precursors. These PEI-Starch FONs showed excellent fluorescence properties, high water dispersibility and good biocompatibility, making them highly potential for various biomedical applications.
authors: Department of Chemistry/Institute of Polymers, Nanchang University, 999 Xuefu Avenue, Nanchang 330031, China.
authors: Meiying
authors: M
authors: Liu
authors: Department of Chemistry and the Tsinghua Center for Frontier Polymer Research, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.
authors: Xiqi
authors: X
authors: Zhang
authors: Department of Chemistry and the Tsinghua Center for Frontier Polymer Research, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.
authors: Bin
authors: B
authors: Yang
authors: Key Laboratory of Chemistry of Northwestern Plant Resources, Key Laboratory for Natural Medicine of Gansu Province, Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, China.
authors: Zhan
authors: Z
authors: Li
authors: Department of Chemistry/Institute of Polymers, Nanchang University, 999 Xuefu Avenue, Nanchang 330031, China.
authors: Fengjie
authors: F
authors: Deng
authors: Department of Chemistry/Institute of Polymers, Nanchang University, 999 Xuefu Avenue, Nanchang 330031, China.
authors: Yang
authors: Y
authors: Yang
authors: Department of Chemistry/Institute of Polymers, Nanchang University, 999 Xuefu Avenue, Nanchang 330031, China; Department of Chemistry and the Tsinghua Center for Frontier Polymer Research, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China. Electronic address: xiaoyongzhang1980@gmail.com.
authors: Xiaoyong
authors: X
authors: Zhang
authors: Department of Chemistry and the Tsinghua Center for Frontier Polymer Research, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China. Electronic address: weiyen@tsinghua.edu.cn.
authors: Yen
authors: Y
authors: Wei
mesh_terms: D005456:Fluorescent Dyes / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000494:pharmacology; D056945:Hep G2 Cells; D006801:Humans; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal; D057054:Molecular Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D036103:Nanotechnology; D011094:Polyethyleneimine / Q000737:chemistry; D013213:Starch / Q000737:chemistry*; D013696:Temperature
chemical_list: D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D011094:Polyethyleneimine; D013213:Starch
keywords: Biomedical applications; Cell imaging; Fluorescent organic nanoparticles; Polyethyleneimine; Starch