Cancer has always been one of the targets of clinical medical research, with tens of thousands of people dying every year all over the world. Gold nanoclusters (AuNCs) have been widely used in biosensing and bioimaging due to their excellent biocompatibility, stable chemical structure and easy surface modification. Because the iron ion held in the heme is an essential nutrient source for cell proliferation, we applied hemoglobin-capped AuNCs (Hb-AuNCs) as nutrient sources for human breast cancer cells (MDA-MB-231 and MDA-MB-468) in this study. After cultured together, breast cancer cells metabolized Hb-AuNCs in order to maintain their growth. Hence, Hb-AuNCs can be a fluorescence probe for breast cancer cells. After breast cancer cells metabolized hemoglobin on the surface of Hb-AuNCs, cancer progression was evaluated by fluorescence intensity changes of Hb-AuNCs and also the proliferation of breast cancer cells were inhibited.<br/>

Application of hemoglobin-capped fluorescent gold nanoclusters for cancer cell targeting and inhibition of cancer cell proliferation

2019 Fall National Meeting

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