Multifunctional nanoprobe for cancer cell targeting and simultaneous fluorescence/magnetic resonance imaging.
Multifunctional nanoprobes with distinctive magnetic and fluorescent properties are highly useful in accurate and early cancer diagnosis. In this study, nanoparticles of Fe3O4 core with fluorescent SiO2 shell (MFS) are synthesized by a facile improved Stöber method. These nanoparticles owning a significant core-shell structure exhibit good dispersion, stable fluorescence, low cytotoxicity and excellent biocompatibility. TLS11a aptamer (Apt1), a specific membrane protein for human liver cancer cells which could be internalized into cells, is conjugated to the MFS nanoparticles through the formation of amide bond working as a target-specific moiety. The attached TLS11a aptamers on nanoparticles are very stable and can't be hydrolyzed by DNA hydrolytic enzyme in vivo. Both fluorescence and magnetic resonance imaging show significant uptake of aptamer conjugated nanoprobe by HepG2 cells compared to 4T1, SGC-7901 and MCF-7 cells. In addition, with the increasing concentration of the nanoprobe, T2-weighted MRI images of the as-treated HepG2 cells are significantly negatively enhanced, indicating that a high magnetic field gradient is generated by MFS-Apt1 which has been specifically captured by HepG2 cells. The relaxivity of nanoprobe is calculated to be 11.5 mg(-1)s(-1). The MR imaging of tumor-bearing nude mouse is also confirmed. The proposed multifunctional nanoprobe with the size of sub-100 nm has the potential to provide real-time imaging in early liver cancer cell diagnosis.
Key Laboratory of Environmental Medicine Engineering, Ministry of Education, Jiangsu Province Hi-Tech Key Laboratory for Bio-medical Research, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189, People's Republic of China.
Zhenzhen
Z
Wei
Laboratory of Bio-inspired Smart Interfacial Science, Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, People's Republic of China.
Yafeng
Y
Wu
Key Laboratory of Environmental Medicine Engineering, Ministry of Education, Jiangsu Province Hi-Tech Key Laboratory for Bio-medical Research, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189, People's Republic of China.
Yuewu
Y
Zhao
Key Laboratory of Environmental Medicine Engineering, Ministry of Education, Jiangsu Province Hi-Tech Key Laboratory for Bio-medical Research, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189, People's Republic of China.
Li
L
Mi
Taixing People's Hospital, Taixing 225400, People's Republic of China.
Jintao
J
Wang
Taixing People's Hospital, Taixing 225400, People's Republic of China.
Jimin
J
Wang
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Medical School of Southeast University, Nanjing 211189, People's Republic of China.
Jinjin
J
Zhao
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Medical School of Southeast University, Nanjing 211189, People's Republic of China.
Lixin
L
Wang
Key Laboratory of Environmental Medicine Engineering, Ministry of Education, Jiangsu Province Hi-Tech Key Laboratory for Bio-medical Research, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189, People's Republic of China.
Anran
A
Liu
Key Laboratory of Environmental Medicine Engineering, Ministry of Education, Jiangsu Province Hi-Tech Key Laboratory for Bio-medical Research, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189, People's Republic of China.
Ying
Y
Li
Key Laboratory of Environmental Medicine Engineering, Ministry of Education, Jiangsu Province Hi-Tech Key Laboratory for Bio-medical Research, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189, People's Republic of China.
Wei
W
Wei
Key Laboratory of Environmental Medicine Engineering, Ministry of Education, Jiangsu Province Hi-Tech Key Laboratory for Bio-medical Research, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189, People's Republic of China.
Yuanjian
Y
Zhang
Key Laboratory of Environmental Medicine Engineering, Ministry of Education, Jiangsu Province Hi-Tech Key Laboratory for Bio-medical Research, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189, People's Republic of China. Electronic address: liusq@seu.edu.cn.
Songqin
S
Liu
D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D061986:MCF-7 Cells; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D015335:Molecular Probes; D036103:Nanotechnology
D015335:Molecular Probes
Aptamer; Fluorescence imaging; HepG2 cells; Magnetic resonance imaging; Multifunctional nanoprobe