Fluorescent Dye Encapsulated ZnO Particles with Cell-specific Toxicity for Potential use in Biomedical Applications
- Boise State Univ., ID (United States)
- Boise State Univ., ID (United States); Mountain States Tumor and Medical Research Inst., Boise, ID (United States)
- Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
- Boise State Univ., ID (United States); Indian Inst. of Science, Bangalore (India)
Fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-encapsulated core-shell particles with a nanoscale ZnO finishing layer have been synthesized for the first time as multifunctional “smart” nanostructures for particle tracking and cell imaging using the visible fluorescence emission of the dye or UV fluorescence emission of ZnO, and anti-cancer/antibacterial treatments using the selective toxicity of the nanoscale ZnO outer surface. The chemical phase composition, morphology, size, and the layered core-shell architecture of the particles were characterized using detailed transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and UV-vis-NIR spectrophotometry. Systematic XPS studies after removing nanometer thick layers confirmed the expected layered structure in the order ZnO-SiO2-APTMS-FITC proceeding from the surface to the core of the ~200 nm sized particles. Detailed investigation of the fluorescence properties of these hydrophilic particles in bio-compatible media using fluorescence spectroscopy, flow cytometry and fluorescence confocal microscopy demonstrated that the silica/ZnO outer layer offers considerable protection to the encapsulated dye molecules from photobleaching and quenching due to reactive species such as oxygen in the solvent. These particles showed promise toward cell imaging, for example when the bacterium Escherichia coli was used as a test system, the green fluorescence of the particles allowed confocal microscopy to image the cells. The FITC encapsulated ZnO (FITC-ZnO) particles demonstrated excellent selectivity in preferentially killing Jurkat cancer cells (18% cell viability) without any significant toxicity to normal primary immune cells (75% cell viability) at 60 μg/mL concentrations and inhibited the growth of both gram-positive and gram negative bacteria at concentrations ≥ 250-500 μg/mL (for Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli, respectively). These results indicate that the novel FITC encapsulated multifunctional particles with nanoscale ZnO surface layer are smart nanostructures for particle tracking, cell imaging, antibacterial treatments and cancer therapy.
- Research Organization:
- Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States). Environmental Molecular Sciences Lab. (EMSL)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-76RL01830
- OSTI ID:
- 949895
- Report Number(s):
- PNNL-SA-56366; 19803; KP1704020; TRN: US200909%%466
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Materials Science Materials in Medicine, Vol. 20, Issue 1; ISSN 0957-4530
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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