Creation and biological evaluation of nanoparticle-based artificial transcription factor

能够在体外和体内成像的硅量子点（SiQD）可以在分子水平上剖析细胞功能，并已发展成为精密医学中的一种有效诊断工具。虽然许多报道都集中在评估二氧化硅量子点的染色能力，但它们的纳米生物相互作用，这对于评估其生物相容性至关重要，往往被忽视。我们开发了水性，近红外发射普朗尼克F127覆盖的SiQD胶束能够活细胞成像与最小的细胞毒性。在pH 7下，SiQD/F127胶束在水中的PLQY为25%。SiQD-De/F127胶束在HeLa和人皮肤成纤维细胞中表现出显著的体外成像能力和有限的细胞毒性。此外，SiQD-De/F127胶束在与青鳉鱼卵和幼体孵育时显示出优异的体内成像能力，而不需要载体和转染剂。重要的是要注意，即使在更高的浓度（1毫克mL-1），青鳉鱼的正常胚胎发育没有改变，因为幼虫孵化的第17天从胶束处理的鸡蛋作为对照，没有任何毒性的迹象。因此，SiQDs-De/F127胶束是预期具有用于体内成像研究的优异生物相容性的SiQD。

Silicon quantum dots (SiQDs) capable of in vitro and in vivo imaging could dissect cellular function at the molecular level and have been advancing as a potent diagnostic tool in precision medicine. While numerous reports focus on evaluating the staining capacity of silica quantum dots, their nano-bio interaction, which is critical for assessing their biocompatibility, is often overlooked. We developed water-borne, NIR-emitting Pluronic F127-covered SiQDs micelles capable of live cell imaging with minimal cytotoxicity. The PLQY of the SiQDs/F127 micelles in water was 25% at pH 7. SiQD-De/F127 micelles demonstrated significant in vitro imaging capacity and limited cytotoxicity in the HeLa and human dermal fibroblasts. Furthermore, the SiQD-De/F127 micelles displayed excellent in vivo imaging capacity without requiring vectors and transfection agents when incubated with medaka fish eggs and larvae. It is important to note here that even at higher concentrations (1 mg mL－1), the normal embryonic development of medaka fish was not altered as the larvae hatched on day 17 from the micelles-treated egg as that of the control without any signs of toxicity. Therefore, SiQDs-De/F127 micelles are SiQDs expected to have excellent biocompatibility for in vivo imaging studies.