title: Multi-Functionalized Carbon Nano-onions as Imaging Probes for Cancer Cells.
abstract: Carbon-based nanomaterials have attracted much interest during the last decade for biomedical applications. Multimodal imaging probes based on carbon nano-onions (CNOs) have emerged as a platform for bioimaging because of their cell-penetration properties and minimal systemic toxicity. Here, we describe the covalent functionalization of CNOs with fluorescein and folic acid moieties for both imaging and targeting cancer cells. The modified CNOs display high brightness and photostability in aqueous solutions and their selective and rapid uptake in two different cancer cell lines without significant cytotoxicity was demonstrated. The localization of the functionalized CNOs in late-endosomes cell compartments was revealed by a correlative approach with confocal and transmission electron microscopy. Understanding the biological response of functionalized CNOs with the capability to target cancer cells and localize the nanoparticles in the cellular environment, will pave the way for the development of a new generation of imaging probes for future biomedical studies.
authors.affiliation: Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT), Nano Carbon Materials Laboratory, Via Morego 30, 16163 Genova (Italy).
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Frasconi
authors.affiliation: Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT), Electron Microscopy Laboratory, Via Morego 30, 16163 Genova (Italy).
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Marotta
authors.affiliation: Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin, Trinity Biomedical Science Institute, School of Chemistry, 152-160 Pearse Street, Dublin 2 (Ireland).
authors.forename: Lyn
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Markey
authors.affiliation: Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin, Trinity Biomedical Science Institute, School of Chemistry, 152-160 Pearse Street, Dublin 2 (Ireland).
authors.forename: Kevin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Flavin
authors.affiliation: European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Institute for Health and Consumer Protection, Via E. Fermi 2749, 21027 Ispra, Varese (Italy).
authors.forename: Valentina
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Spampinato
authors.affiliation: European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Institute for Health and Consumer Protection, Via E. Fermi 2749, 21027 Ispra, Varese (Italy).
authors.forename: Giacomo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ceccone
authors.affiliation: University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), Department of Chemistry, El Paso, Texas 79968 (USA).
authors.forename: Luis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Echegoyen
authors.affiliation: Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin, Trinity Biomedical Science Institute, School of Chemistry, 152-160 Pearse Street, Dublin 2 (Ireland).
authors.forename: Eoin M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Scanlan
authors.affiliation: Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT), Nano Carbon Materials Laboratory, Via Morego 30, 16163 Genova (Italy). silvia.giordani@iit.it.
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Giordani
mesh_terms: D002244:Carbon / Q000737:chemistry*; D058975:Folate Receptor 1 / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry*; D019697:Onions / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D058975:Folate Receptor 1; D002244:Carbon
keywords: electron microscopy; fluorescence; folate receptor; nanomaterials; surface chemistry