In vitro cytotoxicity of fluorescent silica nanoparticles hybridized with aggregation-induced emission luminogens for living cell imaging

Int J Mol Sci. 2013 Jan 7;14(1):1080-92. doi: 10.3390/ijms14011080.

Abstract

Fluorescent silica nanoparticles (FSNPs) can provide high-intensity and photostable fluorescent signals as a probe for biomedical analysis. In this study, FSNPs hybridized with aggregation-induced emission (AIE) luminogens (namely FSNP-SD) were successfully fabricated by a surfactant-free sol-gel method. The FSNP-SD were spherical, monodisperse and uniform in size, with an average diameter of approximately 100 nm, and emitted strong fluorescence at the peak of 490 nm. The FSNP-SD selectively stained the cytoplasmic regions and were distributed in the cytoplasm. Moreover, they can stay inside cells, enabling the tacking of cells over a long period of time. The intracellular vesicles and multinucleated cells were increase gradually with the rise of FSNP-SD concentration. Both cell viability and survival only lost less than 20% when the cells were exposed to the high concentration of 100 μg/mL FSNP-SD. Additionally, the cell apoptosis and intracellular ROS assay indicated that FSNP-SD had no significant toxic effects at the maximum working concentration of 80 μg/mL. This study demonstrated that the FSNP-SD are promising biocompatible fluorescent probes for living cell imaging.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Apoptosis / drug effects
  • Biocompatible Materials / chemistry
  • Biocompatible Materials / pharmacokinetics
  • Biocompatible Materials / pharmacology
  • Cell Shape / drug effects
  • Cell Survival / drug effects
  • Fluorescent Dyes / chemistry*
  • HeLa Cells
  • Humans
  • Mice
  • Microscopy, Electron, Transmission
  • Microscopy, Fluorescence
  • Microscopy, Phase-Contrast
  • Molecular Imaging / methods*
  • NIH 3T3 Cells
  • Nanoparticles / chemistry*
  • Nanoparticles / ultrastructure
  • Propylamines
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Silanes / chemistry
  • Silicon Dioxide / chemistry*
  • Spectrometry, Fluorescence

Substances

  • Biocompatible Materials
  • Fluorescent Dyes
  • Propylamines
  • Silanes
  • Silicon Dioxide
  • amino-propyl-triethoxysilane