title: Polyhedral Oligomeric Silsesquioxane Functionalized Carbon Dots for Cell Imaging.
abstract: In the present study, octa-aminopropyl polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane hydrochloride salt (OA-POSS) functionalized carbon dots (CDs/POSS) are prepared by a one-pot approach with glycerol as carbon source and solvent medium. OA-POSS serves as a passivation agent, and it is obtained via hydrolytic condensation of 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES). During the functionalization process, the amino groups on OA-POSS combine with carboxylic groups on the bare CDs via formation of amide bond to construct organic-inorganic hybrid carbon dots. The obtained CDs/POSS are well dispersed in aqueous medium with a diameter of ca. 3.6 nm. It is demonstrated that CDs/POSS provide favorable photoluminescent property with a quantum yield of 24.0%. They also exhibit resistance to photobleaching and excellent photoluminescence stability in the presence of biological sample matrix (characterized by heavy metals and organic molecules), which facilitate cell imaging in biological systems. Both the photoluminescent emission wavelength and the fluorescence intensity depend closely on the excitation wavelength, and thus, it provides a potential for multicolor imaging as demonstrated with HeLa cells and MCF-7 cells.
authors.affiliation: †Research Center for Analytical Sciences, Northeastern University, Box 332, Shenyang 110819, China.
authors.forename: Wen-Jing
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: †Research Center for Analytical Sciences, Northeastern University, Box 332, Shenyang 110819, China.
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Hai
authors.affiliation: †Research Center for Analytical Sciences, Northeastern University, Box 332, Shenyang 110819, China.
authors.forename: Quan-Xing
authors.initials: QX
authors.lastname: Mao
authors.affiliation: †Research Center for Analytical Sciences, Northeastern University, Box 332, Shenyang 110819, China.
authors.forename: Ming-Li
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: †Research Center for Analytical Sciences, Northeastern University, Box 332, Shenyang 110819, China.|‡Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering, Tianjin 300071, China.
authors.forename: Jian-Hua
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D002244:Carbon / Q000737:chemistry*; D002460:Cell Line / Q000166:cytology*; D058948:Cell Tracking / Q000379:methods*; D003287:Contrast Media / Q000138:chemical synthesis; D019281:Dimerization; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D061986:MCF-7 Cells; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence / Q000379:methods*; D017646:Organosilicon Compounds / Q000737:chemistry*; D045663:Quantum Dots
chemical_list: C512088:1,3-bis(1,1,3,3,5,5-hexaethoxy-1,3,5-trisilacyclohexyl)propane; D003287:Contrast Media; D017646:Organosilicon Compounds; D002244:Carbon
keywords: carbon dots; cell imaging; functionalization; organic−inorganic hybrid; polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane