Biocompatible fluorescent supramolecular nanofibrous hydrogel for long-term cell tracking and tumor imaging applications

Sci Rep. 2015 Nov 17:5:16680. doi: 10.1038/srep16680.

Abstract

Biocompatible peptide-based supramolecular hydrogel has recently emerged as a new and promising system for biomedical applications. In this work, Rhodamine B is employed as a new capping group of self-assembling peptide, which not only provides the driving force for supramolecular nanofibrous hydrogel formation, but also endows the hydrogel with intrinsic fluroescence signal, allowing for various bioimaging applications. The fluorescent peptide nanofibrous hydrogel can be formed via disulfide bond reduction. After dilution of the hydrogel with aqueous solution, the fluorescent nanofiber suspension can be obtained. The resultant nanofibers are able to be internalized by the cancer cells and effectively track the HeLa cells for as long as 7 passages. Using a tumor-bearing mouse model, it is also demonstrated that the fluorescent supramolecular nanofibers can serve as an efficient probe for tumor imaging in a high-contrast manner.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Biocompatible Materials / chemistry*
  • Biocompatible Materials / metabolism
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Cell Survival / drug effects
  • Cell Tracking
  • Fluorescent Dyes / chemistry*
  • Fluorescent Dyes / metabolism
  • HeLa Cells
  • Hep G2 Cells
  • Humans
  • Hydrogels / chemistry*
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred BALB C
  • Microscopy, Confocal
  • Nanofibers / chemistry*
  • Nanofibers / toxicity
  • Peptides / chemical synthesis
  • Peptides / chemistry
  • Peptides / metabolism
  • Rhodamines / chemistry
  • Rhodamines / metabolism

Substances

  • Biocompatible Materials
  • Fluorescent Dyes
  • Hydrogels
  • Peptides
  • Rhodamines
  • rhodamine B