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Imaging C. elegans with thiolated tryptophan-based NIR fluorescent gold nanoclusters

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Abstract

Multidentate, thiolated, tryptophan-containing peptide conjugates were synthesized for the preparation of gold nanoclusters (AuNCs). Precursor Au11(PPh3)8Cl3 was prepared by the reduction of HAuCl4, followed by the use of tryptophan-containing peptide conjugates in ligand displacement reactions, to afford near-infrared fluorescent AuNCs. The emission maxima for these newly synthesized AuNCs were ~715 nm. AuNCs were characterized with the help of UV–Vis, FTIR, fluorescence and MALDI analysis. FTIR spectra showed that the ligands bind to Au atoms through Au–S bonds, while MALDI mass spectra revealed that the clusters consisted of 20–23 Au atoms. Introduction of hydrophilic –COOH groups engendered water solubility to these AuNCs, enabling bioimaging applications. We demonstrate fluorescence imaging of the nematode C. elegans and confirm distribution of these AuNCs in nematode gut with the help of green fluorescent protein co-localization experiments.

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Acknowledgments

AKB thanks Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research, India for fellowship. SV thanks Department of Atomic Energy, for DAE-SRC Outstanding Investigator Award and Department of Science and Technology, for J C Bose National Fellowship.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kanpur, 208016, UP, India

    Apurba Kr. Barman & Sandeep Verma

  2. Department of Biological Sciences and Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kanpur, 208016, UP, India

    Amaresh Chaturbedi & K. Subramaniam

  3. DST Thematic Unit of Excellence on Soft Nanofabrication, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kanpur, 208016, UP, India

    Sandeep Verma

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  1. Apurba Kr. Barman
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Correspondence to Sandeep Verma.

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11051_2013_2083_MOESM1_ESM.doc

Synthetic schemes and synthetic procedures for ligands and gold clusters, additional experimental details; FTIR, NMR and HRMS spectra for ligands and clusters, MALDI mass spectra of nanoclusters. (DOC 1,552 kb)

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Barman, A.K., Chaturbedi, A., Subramaniam, K. et al. Imaging C. elegans with thiolated tryptophan-based NIR fluorescent gold nanoclusters. J Nanopart Res 15, 2083 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-013-2083-6

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