Autofluorescent gelatin nanoparticles as imaging probes to monitor matrix metalloproteinase metabolism of cancer cells

Abstract

In this paper, autofluorescent gelatin nanoparticles were synthesized as matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) responsive probes for cancer cell imaging. A modified two-step desolvation method was employed to generate these nanoparticles whose size was controllable and had stable autofluorescence. As glutaraldehyde was introduced as the crosslinking agent, the generation of Schiff base (CN) and double carbon bond (CC) between glutaraldehyde and gelatin endowed these gelatin nanoparticles distinct autofluorescence. Considering MMPs were usually overexpressed on the surface of cancer cells and they had degradation ability toward gelatin, we utilized these nanoparticles as imaging probes to responsively monitor the MMP metabolism of cancer cells according to the luminance change. As fluorescent probes, these nanoparticles had facile synthesis procedure and good biocompatibility, and provided a smart strategy to monitor cancer cell behaviors. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 104A: 2854-2860, 2016.

Polyacrylamide Nanoparticles with Visible and Near-Infrared Autofluorescence

“…Due to low toxicity, organic nanoparticles have been vigorously developed as cell labels. However, the viability of the MCF‐7 cells decreased at 1.5 mg mL −1 of GelNPs, even it is a natural peptide/protein extractive from animal collagen . This study revealed that fPAANPs had LC50 of 6, 9, and 7.5 mg mL −1 in RAW264.7, HepG2, and Hepa1‐6 cells, respectively.…”

“…With the unsatisfied NIRF of GTA‐crosslinked PAANPs, we investigated literatures, which told us that fluorescence produced by GTA crosslinking comes from two different kinds of double bonds, CN and CC . However, it was reported that GTA crosslinking produced visible fluorescence, which had already been used to fabricate autofluorescence organic nanoparticles . Nevertheless, no reports indicated that GTA crosslinking was used to manufacture NIRF nanomaterials.…”

“…The fluorescence comes from the transition of electrons between different orbitals, including π–π* transitions in CC bonds and n –π* transitions in CN bonds . Several studies demonstrate that GTA crosslinking can be used to produce autofluorescent nanoparticles and microspheres, such as GTA‐crosslinked chitosan nanoparticles, gelatin nanoparticles, and chitosan microspheres . However, these GTA‐crosslinked materials were only reported with visible fluorescence, none of which was indicated with NIRF and in vivo application.…”

Design of Boron Nitride/Gelatin Electrospun Nanofibers for Bone Tissue Engineering

“…However, the unreacted aldehyde terminals are neutralized with 10% glycine and the biocompatibility of cross-linked ESM is investigated using human HOS bone cells, which exhibit osteogenic potential [63][64] . Cell attachment on the ESM is observed by staining the nuclei of the cells since the strong autofluorescence of cross-linked gelatin limits the observation of the actin staining of the cells 65 Finally, the influence of BN concentration on osteoblast gene expression has been monitored by qPCR analysis (Figure 9c). Osteopontin (OSPN) gene expression is essential for bone mineralization.…”

Multifunctional Gelatin Nanoparticle Integrated Microchip for Enhanced Capture, Release, and Analysis of Circulating Tumor Cells

“…In this work, the multifunctional GNPs were prepared with a modified method as we reported previously . Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observation of the nanoparticles revealed a regular spherical shape with a size around 200 nm in diameter ( Figure a), and under dynamic light scattering (DLS) analysis, the gelatin nanoparticles were negatively charged, and the size of the gelatin nanoparticles was in a narrow distribution (Figure b and Figure S3, Supporting Information).…”