Shielded Silver Nanorods for Bioapplications

Abstract

Silver is arguably the best plasmonic material in terms of optical performance. However, wide application of Ag and Ag-containing nanoparticles is usually hindered by two major drawbacks, namely, chemical degradation and cytotoxicity. We report herein a synthetic method for highly monodisperse polymer-coated Ag nanorods, which are thereby protected against external stimuli (oxidation, light, heat) and are noncytotoxic to various cell lines. The monodispersity of Ag nanorods endows them with narrow plasmon bands, which are tunable into the near-infrared biological transparency window, thus facilitating application in bioanalytical and therapeutic techniques. We demonstrate intracellular surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) imaging using Ag nanorods encoded with five different Raman reporter molecules. Encoded Ag nanorods display long-term stability in terms of size, shape, optical response, and SERS signal. Our results help eliminate concerns of instability and cytotoxicity in the application of Ag-containing nanoparticles with enhanced optical response, toward the development of bioapplications.

Silver Nanoparticles Biosynthesis, Characterization, Antimicrobial Activities, Applications, Cytotoxicity and Safety Issues: An Updated Review

“…Cytotoxicity and chemical degradation are the two major drawbacks of AgNPs. To overcome these drawbacks, scientists have developed a new synthetic approach for highly monodisperse polymer-coated AgNRs, which are noncytotoxic and protected against external stimuli such as heat, light and oxidation [ 115 ]. A different method of sample preparation is required for each of the characterization techniques.…”

Anisotropic transition metal–based nanomaterials for biomedical applications

“…reported a monodisperse polymer‐coated silver nanorods (AgNRs), which were synthesized through a wet‐chemistry reaction. [ 89 ] Experimental results confirmed that these AgNRs had good optical response and therapeutic efficiency. Beyond that, Swart et al.…”

“…[ 87 ] Compared with normal spherical nanoparticles, more advantages of this nanostructure are generally accepted, such as increased ability for cell internalization, high drug loading capacity, and easy functionalization process. [ 88,89 ] Recently, various transition metals, including Bi, Fe, Zn, and so on, have been shaped into nanorod structures.…”

Trends in Tissue Bioprinting, Cell-Laden Bioink Formulation, and Cell Tracking

“…Apart from the detection of “free” molecules such as biomarkers, SERS can be used like CLSM for live-cell imaging with the help of so-called SERS nanotags. 16 In this case, the plasmonic NPs are decorated with Raman reporter (RaR) molecules. As each RaR will have its unique fingerprint, SERS nanotags can be employed to label different cell types, which can subsequently be imaged with a single laser source, leading to an excellent multiplexing capacity of the technique ( Figure 4 ).…”

“…Likewise, multiplexing is feasible with either of the aforementioned techniques, highlighting their versatility. Adapted from ref ( 16 ). Copyright 2020 American Chemical Society, and ref ( 17 ).…”