Abstract In this work, gold nanoclusters (AuNCs) grafted fluorescent conjugated polymer nanoparticles were prepared for both cancer cell imaging and photothermal killing. The commercial conjugated polymer, poly(2-methoxy-5-(2-ethylhexyloxy)-1,4-phenylenevinylene) (MEH-PPV), was used for preparing the fluorescent nanoparticles. They were further modified with amine-group by employing polyethyleneimine. Through the carbodiimide reaction between amine and carboxyl groups of AuNCs, the AuNCs with significant photothermal conversion efficiency were covalently linked to MEH-PPV nanoparticles. The formed nanocomposites possess stable fluorescence of conjugated polymer and photothermal effect of AuNCs. Cell experiments demonstrated that the nanocomposites were internalized into cancer cells, and exhibited obvious fluorescent signals and photothermal killing efficiency. Such properties show that integrating AuNCs with conjugated polymers is a potential strategy for realizing cancer cell imaging and killing simultaneously.

中文翻译：

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金纳米簇接枝共轭聚合物纳米粒子用于癌细胞成像和光热杀伤

摘要 在这项工作中，金纳米团簇 (AuNCs) 接枝荧光共轭聚合物纳米粒子被制备用于癌细胞成像和光热杀伤。商业共轭聚合物聚（2-甲氧基-5-（2-乙基己氧基）-1,4-亚苯基亚乙烯基）（MEH-PPV）用于制备荧光纳米颗粒。它们通过使用聚乙烯亚胺用胺基团进一步改性。通过AuNCs的胺和羧基之间的碳二亚胺反应，具有显着光热转换效率的AuNCs共价连接到MEH-PPV纳米颗粒上。形成的纳米复合材料具有共轭聚合物的稳定荧光和AuNCs的光热效应。细胞实验表明纳米复合材料被内化到癌细胞中，并表现出明显的荧光信号和光热杀伤效率。这些特性表明，将 AuNC 与共轭聚合物相结合是同时实现癌细胞成像和杀伤的潜在策略。