Activated fluorescence was achieved for a poly(propargyl acrylate) (PA) nanoparticle system. In this work, the system consisted of an azide modified bovine serum albumin (azBSA) that had been covalently attached to an alkyne modified silicon phthalocyanine (akSiPc) derivative through a copper catalyzed azide alkyne Huisgen cycloaddition, (“click chemistry"). The azBSA/akSiPc was then covalently attached, via “click chemistry”, to the PA particle sized at ca. 67 nm (PA/BSA/akSiPc). The native system had no emission. However, when the system was incubated at 37 °C for 30 min with the digestive enzyme, trypsin, it was seen that the system became fluorescent. This phenomenon is due to the trypsin digesting the “weak link” BSA, which releases free akSiPc, a highly fluorescent dye. The PA/BSA/akSiPc system was confirmed to be biocompatible, and, to investigate activated fluorescence in cancer cells, human non-small cell lung cancer cells (A549 cell line) were used. The PA/BSA/akSiPc system was incubated with the cells at varying time points in a effort to observe a fluorescence increase over time as the cells uptake the system. The particle is taken to the lysosomes and endosomes of the cancer cell. This is where the digestive enzymes are located, and the BSA is digested via endocytosis, resulting in the release of free akSiPc in the cell. It was seen, through live cell scanning confocal microscopy, that the fluorescence was activated in the cell.

<i>in vitro </i>illustrations: Achieving activated fluorescence in cancer cells

251st National Meeting (2016)

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in vitro illustrations: Achieving activated fluorescence in cancer cells