title: Macromolecularly "Caged" Carbon Nanoparticles for Intracellular Trafficking via Switchable Photoluminescence.
abstract: Reversible switching of photoluminescence (PL) of carbon nanoparticles (CNP) can be achieved with counterionic macromolecular caging and decaging at the nanoscale. A negatively charged uncoated, "bare" CNP with high luminescence loses its PL when positively charged macromolecules are wrapped around its surface. Prepared caged carbons could regain their emission only through interaction with anionic surfactant molecules, representing anionic amphiphiles of endocytic membranes. This process could be verified by gel electrophoresis, spectroscopically and in vitro confocal imaging studies. Results indicated for the first time that luminescence switchable CNPs can be synthesized for efficient intracellular tracking. This study further supports the origin of photoluminescence in CNP as a surface phenomenon correlated a function of characteristic charged macromolecules.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Bioengineering, Beckman Institute, Materials Science and Engineering, Institute for Sustainability in Energy and Environment, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign , Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States.|Mills Breast Cancer Institute, and Carle Foundation Hospital , Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States.
authors.forename: Santosh K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Misra
authors.affiliation: Departments of Bioengineering, Beckman Institute, Materials Science and Engineering, Institute for Sustainability in Energy and Environment, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign , Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States.|Mills Breast Cancer Institute, and Carle Foundation Hospital , Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States.
authors.forename: Indrajit
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Srivastava
authors.affiliation: Departments of Bioengineering, Beckman Institute, Materials Science and Engineering, Institute for Sustainability in Energy and Environment, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign , Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States.|Mills Breast Cancer Institute, and Carle Foundation Hospital , Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States.
authors.forename: Indu
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Tripathi
authors.affiliation: Departments of Bioengineering, Beckman Institute, Materials Science and Engineering, Institute for Sustainability in Energy and Environment, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign , Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States.|Mills Breast Cancer Institute, and Carle Foundation Hospital , Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States.
authors.forename: Enrique
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Daza
authors.affiliation: Departments of Bioengineering, Beckman Institute, Materials Science and Engineering, Institute for Sustainability in Energy and Environment, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign , Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States.|Mills Breast Cancer Institute, and Carle Foundation Hospital , Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States.
authors.forename: Fatemeh
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ostadhossein
authors.affiliation: Departments of Bioengineering, Beckman Institute, Materials Science and Engineering, Institute for Sustainability in Energy and Environment, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign , Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States.|Mills Breast Cancer Institute, and Carle Foundation Hospital , Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States.
authors.forename: Dipanjan
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-0175-4704
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pan