ABSTRACT
Monodispersed luminescent functionalized core-shell nanospheres (LFCSNs) were successfully synthesized and investigated for their cyto-toxic effect on human liver hepatocellular carcinoma cell line (HepG2 cells) by adopting MTT, DNA Ladder, TUNEL assay and qPCR based gene expressions through mRNA quantifications. The TUNEL and DNA ladder assays suggested an insignificant apoptosis in HepG2 cells due to the LFCSNs treatment. Further, the qPCR results also show that the mRNA expressions of cell cycle checkpoint gene p53 and apoptosis related gene (caspase-9) was up-regulated, while the antiapoptotic gene BCl-2 and apoptosis related genes FADD and CAS-3 (apoptosis effecter gene) were down-regulated in the LFCSNs treated cells. The nanospheres that were loaded into the cells confirm their intracellular uptake by light and fluorescent spectro-photometry and microscopy imaging analysis. The loaded nanospheres demonstrate an absolute resistance to photo-bleaching, which were applied for dynamic imaging to real-time tracking in-vitro cell migratory activity for continuous 24 and 48 h durations using a time-lapsed fluorescent microscope. These properties of LFCSNs could therefore promote applications in the area of fluorescent protein biolabeling and drug-delivery.
ABSTRACT
CaMoO4:Pr(core), CaMoO4:Pr@CaMoO4 (core/shell) and CaMoO4:Pr@CaMoO4@SiO2 (core/shell/shell) nanoparticles were synthesized using polyol method. X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimatric analysis (TGA), UV-vis absorption, optical band gap energy analysis, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), FT-Raman and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy were employed to investigate the structural and optical properties of the synthesized core and core/shell nanoparticles. The results of the XRD indicate that the obtained core, core/shell and core/shell/shell nanoparticles crystallized well at ~150 °C in ethylene glycol (EG) under urea hydrolysis. The growth of the CaMoO4 and SiO2 shell (~12 nm) around the CaMoO4:Pr core nanoparticles resulted in an increase of the average size of the nanopaticles as well as in a broadening of their size distribution. These nanoparticles can be well-dispersed in distilled water to form clear colloidal solutions. The photoluminescence spectra of core, core/shell and core/shell/shell nanoparticles show the characteristic charge transfer emission band of MoO4 (2-) (533 nm) and Pr(3+) 4f(2) â 4f(2), with multiple strong (3)H4 â (3)P2, (1)D2 â (3)H4 and (3)P0 â (3) F2 transitions located at ~490, 605 and 652 nm, respectively. The emission intensity of the CaMoO4:Pr@CaMoO4 core/shell and CaMoO4:Pr@CaMoO4@SiO2 core/shell/shell nanoparticles increased ~4.5 and 1.7 times,respectively, with respect to those of CaMoO4:Pr core nanoparticles. This indicates that a significant amount of nonradiative centers existing on the surface of CaMoO4:Pr@CaMoO4 core/shell nanoparticles can be eliminated by the shielding effect of CaMoO4 shells.
