Publication

Use of upconversion fluorescent nanoparticles for simultaneous imaging, detection and delivery of sirna

JIANG SHAN
Citations
Altmetric:
Alternative Title
Abstract
Recent advancements in the synthesis of fluorescent nanoparticles have made them a promising material for cancer detection. Furthermore, combining different modalities on one particle has sparked great research interest and efforts have been made to develop multifunctional nanoparticles. In this thesis, near-infrared (NIR)-to-visible upconversion fluorescent nanoparticles with unique properties such as low autofluorescence, high tissue penetration depth, low cytotoxicity, good photostability, and minimum photodamage to biological tissues are developed and used for imaging, detection and delivery of siRNA. Silica coated NaYF4 upconversion nanoparticles co-doped with lanthanide ions (Yb/Er) are synthesized with strong NIR-to-visible upconversion fluorescence. These nanoparticles were conjugated to ligands which can specifically bind to cell membrane receptors and cytoskeleton for a high sensitivity of detection with strong signal-to-background ratio for imaging of cells. In addition, the nanoparticles were also used for targeted delivery of siRNA into cells. Besides monitoring its intracellular delivery process, the release and biostability of siRNA were also demonstrated based on FRET. Taken together, this study gave evidence on the use of upconversion fluorescent nanoparticles as a multifunctional platform for simultaneous imaging, detection and delivery of siRNA.
Keywords
upconversion nanoparticles, fluorescent imaging, siRNA, targeted delivery, upconversion FRET, multifunctional nanosystem
Source Title
Publisher
Series/Report No.
Organizational Units
Rights
Date
2009-09-29
DOI
Type
Thesis
Additional Links
Related Datasets
Related Publications