Dye-Doped Fluorescent Silica Nanoparticles for Live Cell and In Vivo Bioimaging.
The need for novel design strategies for fluorescent nanomaterials to improve our understanding of biological activities at the molecular level is increasing rapidly. Dye-doped fluorescent silica nanoparticles (SiNPs) emerge with great potential for developing fluorescence imaging techniques as a novel and ideal platform for the monitoring of living cells and the whole body. Organic dye-containing fluorescent SiNPs exhibit many advantages: they have excellent biocompatibility, are non-toxic, highly hydrophilic, optically transparent, size-tunable and easily modified with various biomolecules. The outer silica shell matrix protects fluorophores from outside chemical reaction factors and provides a hydrophilic shell for the insoluble nanoparticles, which enhances the photo-stability and biocompatibility of the organic fluorescent dyes. Here, we give a summary of the synthesis, characteristics and applications of fluorescent SiNPs for non-invasive fluorescence bioimaging in live cells andin vivo. Additionally, the challenges and perspectives of SiNPs are also discussed. We prospect that the further development of these nanoparticles will lead to an exciting breakthrough in the understanding of biological processes.
Molecular Sciences and Biomedicine Laboratory, State Key Laboratory for Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, College of Biology and Collaborative Innovation Center for Chemistry and Molecular Medicine, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China. yibenwuyue@163.com.
Wen-Han
WH
Zhang
Molecular Sciences and Biomedicine Laboratory, State Key Laboratory for Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, College of Biology and Collaborative Innovation Center for Chemistry and Molecular Medicine, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China. xxhu@hnu.edu.cn.
Xiao-Xiao
XX
Hu
Molecular Sciences and Biomedicine Laboratory, State Key Laboratory for Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, College of Biology and Collaborative Innovation Center for Chemistry and Molecular Medicine, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China. xbzhang@hnu.edu.cn.
Xiao-Bing
XB
Zhang
bioimaging; in vivo; organic fluorescent dye; silica nanoparticle