Ultrabright fluorescent silica nanoparticles for in vivo targeting of xenografted human tumors and cancer cells in zebrafish.

ABSTRACT: New ultrabright fluorescent silica nanoparticles capable of the fast targeting of epithelial tumors in vivo are presented. The as-synthesized folate-functionalized ultrabright particles of 30-40 nm are 230 times brighter than quantum dots (QD450) and 50% brighter than the polymer dots with similar spectra (excitation 365 nm and emission 486 nm). To decrease non-specific targeting, particles are coated with polyethylene glycol (PEG). We demonstrate the in vivo targeting of xenographic human cervical epithelial tumors (HeLa cells) using zebrafish as a model system. The particles target tumors (and probably even individual HeLa cells) as small as 10-20 microns within 20-30 minutes after blood injection. To demonstrate the advantages of ultrabrightness, we repeated the experiments with similar but 200× less bright particles. Compared to those, ultrabright particles showed ?3× faster tumor detection and ?2× higher relative fluorescent contrast of tumors/cancer cells.

SUBMITTER: Peerzade SAMA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7384872 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature