Herceptin-Polymer corona around near-infrared fluorescent carbon dots: A model for immunofluourescence imaging of MCF7 cancer cells

Document Type : Original Article

Author

national research centre

Abstract

Fluorescence imaging of cancer cells is a recently emerging technology which is becoming a complementary biomedical method for cancer diagnosis. In this work, we report on an enhanced multi-color fluorescence imaging of MCF7 breast cancer cell using near-infrared emitting carbon dots (CDs) embedded in a hydrophilic (polymer-antibody) corona. For this purpose, mono-dispersed low molecular weight poly(aspartic acid) (PASP) was prepared via a simple and cost-effective procedure. The prepared poly(aspartic acid) was characterized by FTIR, 1HNMR, DSC and gel-permeation chromatography. PASP acid was attached to the specific monocolonal antibody, Herceptin (HER). Ultra-small CDs (~ 1 nm) was prepared and their surface was coated with poly(ethylene glycol) diamine (PDA). Finally, (PASP-HER) conjugate was attached to PDA at the surface of CDs via carbodiimide chemistry producing the highly fluorescent (CDs-PDA-PASP-HER) conjugate. The prepared immunofluorescence conjugate was characterized by UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy, transmission electron microscope (TEM), dynamic light scattering (DLS) and zeta-potential measurements. The prepared conjugate exhibited an enhanced binding capacity to the surface of MCF7 cells which express HER2 receptors. The prepared immunofluorescence conjugate demonstrated a multimodal fluorescence behavior at blue, green and red regions of light. It can be concluded that this preliminary study may encourage biochemists and oncologists to conduct further research to translate the prepared fluorescence probe into in-vitro and in-vivo applications.

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