Bio-compatibility and cytotoxicity studies of water-soluble CuInS_2-ZnS-AFP fluorescence probe in liver cancer cells

• Published in: 国际肝胆胰疾病杂志：英文版 Vol. 15; no. 4; pp. 406 - 411
• Main Author: Ming-Ya Yang Jian Hong Yan Zhang Zhen Gao Tong-Tong Jiang Jiang-Luqi Song Xiao-Liang Xu Li-Xin Zhu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2016
• Subjects: 剂量-效应关系; 流式细胞仪; 生物相容性; 紫外光激发; 细胞毒性; 肝癌细胞; 荧光探针; 量子点
• ISSN: 1499-3872

BACKGROUND： The oncogenesis of hepatocellular carcinoma（HCC） is not clear. The current methods of the pertinent studies are not precise and sensitive. The present study was to use liver cancer cell line to explore the bio-compatibility and cytotoxicity of ternary quantum dots（QDs） probe and to evaluate the possible application of QDs in HCC.METHODS： CuInS_2-ZnS-AFP fluorescence probe was designed and synthesized to label the liver cancer cell HepG 2. The cytotoxicity of CuInS_2-ZnS-AFP probe was evaluated by MTT experiments and flow cytometry. RESULTS： The labeling experiments indicated that CuInS_2-ZnS QDs conjugated with AFP antibody could enter HepG 2 cells effectively and emit intensive yellow fluorescence by ultraviolet excitation without changing cellular morphology. Toxicity tests suggested that the cytotoxicity of CuInS_2-ZnS-AFP probe was significantly lower than that of CdT e-ZnS-AFP probe（t test, F=0.8, T=-69.326, P〈0.001）. For CuInS_2-ZnS-AFP probe, timeeffect relationship was presented in intermediate concentration（〉20%） groups（P〈0.05） and dose-effect relationship was presented in almost all of the groups（P〈0.05）. CONCLUSION： CuInS_2-ZnS-AFP QDs probe had better biocompatibility and lower cytotoxicity compared with CdT e-ZnS-AFP probe, and could be used for imaging the living cells in vitro.