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Bioactive glass nanoparticles (BGNPs) can be internalized by cells, allowing the intracellular release of dissolution products with therapeutic benefit. Different therapeutic ions can be incorporated into the glass network that can promote angiogenesis via simulation of hypoxia conditions and consequent activation of pro‐angiogenic genes. Here, novel monodispersed spherical dense BGNPs were obtained by a modified Stöber method with the SiO2–CaO–CoO composition, with diameters of 92 ± 1 nm, with cobalt as the pro‐angiogenic ion. The presence of Co2+ species and the role of Co and Ca as network modifiers in the silica glass were confirmed by X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy and 29Si solid‐state magic‐angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance, respectively. Controlled Co2+ ion release was observed in culture media, and no cytotoxicity was observed by (4,5‐dimethylthiazol‐2‐yl)‐2,5‐diphenyl tetrazolium bromide cell viability assay on human osteosarcoma cells in direct contact with the nanoparticles. This study demonstrated that Co2+ ions can be incorporated into dense and spherical BGNPs, and these materials exhibit great potential as intracellular ion delivery systems with therapeutic properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanobiomaterials can be engineered to recognize cancer-specific receptors at the cellular level for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. In this work, we report the synthesis of novel multifunctional nanoconjugates composed of fluorescent inorganic semiconductor quantum dot (QD) cores and tripeptide-modified polysaccharide organic shells. These structures were designed for targeting and imaging the α v β 3 integrin receptors of cancer cells. Initially, chitosan was covalently bound with the RGD peptide using a crosslinker to form bioconjugates (RGD-chitosan), which were later utilized as capping ligands for the production of surface-functionalized CdS QDs via a single-step process in aqueous media at room temperature. These core-shell nanostructures were extensively characterized by UV–vis spectroscopy, photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), zeta potential (ZP) and dynamic light scattering (DLS). The TEM images and the UV–vis absorption results indicated the formation of ultra-small CdS QD nanocrystals with average diameters between 2.0 and 3.0 nm. In addition, the PL results demonstrated that the nanobioconjugates exhibited intense green fluorescence under excitation. The CdS-RGD-chitosan systems were effective at specific targeting integrin when assayed in vitro using two model cell cultures, HEK 293 (non-cancerous human embryonic kidney cell) and SAOS (cancerous sarcoma osteogenic-derived cells) imaged using fluorescence microscopy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, novel nanobioconjugates based on quantum dots and a PEGylated chitosan derivative (PEG-CHI) have been designed and synthesised by a single-step aqueous route at room temperature. Chitosan was chemically modified by PEGylation aiming to significantly improve its water solubility and used as the capping ligand in the preparation of CdS quantum dot (QD) colloidal systems. UV/Vis and photoluminescence spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering, and the zeta potential were used to characterise the biopolymer-capped semi-conductor nanocrystals and their relative stability. The results clearly demonstrated that the PEG-CHI derivative is remarkably effective in nucleating and stabilising ultra-small colloidal CdS QDs in aqueous suspensions under acidic, neutral and alkaline media with an average size of approximately 2.0-3.0 nm and simultaneously showing luminescent activity in the visible range. In addition, the results of cell viability analysis in vitro using two cell cultures based on MTT bioassays demonstrated no cytotoxicity of the CdS QD/PEG-chitosan bioconjugates. Thus, based on these findings, it can be envisioned that these bioconjugates have potential use as biocompatible fluorescent biomarkers for nanomedicine applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cancer remains one of the world's most devastating diseases with millions of fatalities and new cases every year. In this work, we attempted to develop a facile “enzyme-free” fluoroimmunoassay based on the novel nanoconjugates composed of CdS quantum dots (QDs) as the fluorescent inorganic core and an antibody-modified polysaccharide as the organic shell, modeling their possible application for the in vitro diagnosis of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) cancer. Chitosan was conjugated with an anti-CD20 polyclonal antibody (pAbCD20) by the formation of covalent amide bonds. In the sequence, these chitosan-antibody conjugates were utilized as direct ligands for the surface biofunctionalization of CdS QDs (CdS/chitosan-pAbCD20) using a single-step colloidal process in aqueous medium at room temperature. The most relevant physico-chemical properties of these nanoconjugates were assessed by morphological and spectroscopic techniques. The results indicated that CdS nanocrystals were produced with an average diameter of 2.5 nm and with cubic zinc blende crystalline nanostructure. The CdS-immunoconjugates (CdS/chitosan-pAbCD20) presented colloidal hydrodynamic diameter (H D ) of 15.0 ± 1.2 nm. In addition, the results evidenced that the “enzyme-free” QD-linked immunosorbent assay (QLISA) was effective for the in vitro detection against the antigen CD20 (aCD20) based on fluorescent behavior of the CdS nanoconjugates. Moreover, the CdS-immunoconjugates were successfully used for fluorescence bioimaging of NHL cancer cells. Finally, the cell viability results using different cell cultures based on LDH, MTT and Resazurin bio-assays have demonstrated no cytotoxicity of the new CdS-chitosan bioconjugates relative to the standard controls. Thus, CdS conjugates may offer a promising platform for the future development of in vitro and in vivo applications for the detection and diagnosis of NHL cancer cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]