title: Highly Luminescent Heterostructured Copper-Doped Zinc Sulfide Nanocrystals for Application in Cancer Cell Labeling.
abstract: The structural characteristics of the seed-mediated synthesis of heterostructured CuS-ZnS nanocrystals (NCs) and Cu-doped ZnS (ZnS:Cu) NCs synthesized by two different protocols are compared and analyzed. At high Cu dopant concentrations, segregated subclusters of ZnS and CuS are observed. The photoluminescence quantum yield of ZnS:Cu NCs is about 50-80 %; a value much higher than that of ZnS NCs (6 %). Finally, these NCs are coated with a thin silica shell by using (3-mercaptopropyl)triethoxysilane in a reverse microemulsion to make them water soluble. Cytotoxicity experiments show that these silica-coated NCs have greatly reduced toxicity on both cancerous HeLa and noncancerous Chinese hamster ovary cells. The labeling of cancerous HeLa cells is also demonstrated.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Materials Research and Engineering, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), 2 Fusionopolis Way, Innovis, Singapore, 138634, Singapore.
authors.forename: Huixiang
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Materials Research and Engineering, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), 2 Fusionopolis Way, Innovis, Singapore, 138634, Singapore.
authors.forename: Michel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bosman
authors.affiliation: Institute of Materials Research and Engineering, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), 2 Fusionopolis Way, Innovis, Singapore, 138634, Singapore.
authors.forename: Ramesh
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Thamankar
authors.affiliation: Institute of Materials Research and Engineering, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), 2 Fusionopolis Way, Innovis, Singapore, 138634, Singapore.
authors.forename: Muhammad Faizal B
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Zulkifli
authors.affiliation: Institute of Materials Research and Engineering, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), 2 Fusionopolis Way, Innovis, Singapore, 138634, Singapore.
authors.forename: Swee Kuan
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Yen
authors.affiliation: Neural Stem Cell Group, Institute of Medical Biology, 61 Biopolis Drive, Singapore, 138673, Singapore.
authors.forename: Anushya
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hariharan
authors.affiliation: Neural Stem Cell Group, Institute of Medical Biology, 61 Biopolis Drive, Singapore, 138673, Singapore. sudhaharan.thankiah@imb.a-star.edu.sg.
authors.forename: Thankiah
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sudhaharan
authors.affiliation: Institute of Materials Research and Engineering, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), 2 Fusionopolis Way, Innovis, Singapore, 138634, Singapore. selvanst02@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Subramanian Tamil
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Selvan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016466:CHO Cells; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D003300:Copper / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D003412:Cricetulus; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D049449:Luminescence; D015394:Molecular Structure; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D010316:Particle Size; D012822:Silicon Dioxide / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D013440:Sulfides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D013499:Surface Properties; D017967:Zinc Compounds / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D013440:Sulfides; D017967:Zinc Compounds; D012822:Silicon Dioxide; D003300:Copper; C031238:zinc sulfide
keywords: cancer; cytotoxicity; doping; luminescence; nanoparticles