title: Synthesis of ultrastable copper sulfide nanoclusters via trapping the reaction intermediate: potential anticancer and antibacterial applications.
abstract: Copper-based nanomaterials have broad applications in electronics, catalysts, solar energy conversion, antibiotics, tissue imaging, and photothermal cancer therapy. However, it is challenging to prepare ultrasmall and ultrastable CuS nanoclusters (NCs) at room temperature. In this article, a simple method to synthesize water-soluble, monodispersed CuS NCs is reported based on the strategy of trapping the reaction intermediate using thiol-terminated, alkyl-containing short-chain poly(ethylene glycol)s (HS-(CH2)11-(OCH2CH2)6-OH, abbreviated as MUH). The MUH-coated CuS NCs have superior stability in solutions with varied pH values and are stable in pure water for at least 10 months. The as-prepared CuS NCs were highly toxic to A549 cancer cells at a concentration of higher than 100 μM (9.6 μg/mL), making them be potentially applicable as anticancer drugs via intravenous administration by liposomal encapsulation or by direct intratumoral injection. Besides, for the first time, CuS NCs were used for antibacterial application, and 800 μM (76.8 μg/mL) CuS NCs could completely kill the E. coli cells through damaging the cell walls. Moreover, the NCs synthesized here have strong near-infrared (NIR) absorption and can be used as a candidate reagent for photothermal therapy and photoacoustic imaging. The method of trapping the reaction intermediate for simple and controlled synthesis of nanoclusters is generally applicable and can be widely used to synthesize many metal-based (such as Pt, Pd, Au, and Ag) nanoclusters and nanocrystals.
authors.affiliation: †State Key Laboratory of Bioelectronics, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Hong-Yin
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: †State Key Laboratory of Bioelectronics, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Xian-Wu
authors.initials: XW
authors.lastname: Hua
authors.affiliation: †State Key Laboratory of Bioelectronics, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Fu-Gen
authors.initials: FG
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: †State Key Laboratory of Bioelectronics, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Bolin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: †State Key Laboratory of Bioelectronics, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, P. R. China.|§School of Medicine, Southeast University, Nanjing 210009, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Peidang
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: †State Key Laboratory of Bioelectronics, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Ning
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Gu
authors.affiliation: ⊥School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Zhifei
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: ‡Department of Chemistry, University of Michigan, 930 North University Avenue, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, United States.
authors.forename: Zhan
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000138:chemical synthesis; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000138:chemical synthesis; D018407:Bacterial Physiological Phenomena / Q000187:drug effects*; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D003300:Copper / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000737:chemistry*; D008422:Materials Testing; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000737:chemistry / Q000648:ultrastructure; D053761:Nanocomposites / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D010316:Particle Size
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D003300:Copper; C017846:cupric sulfide
keywords: antibacterial; copper sulfide nanocluster; reaction intermediate; short-chain PEG; ultrastable