A Bio-Conjugated Fullerene as a Subcellular-Targeted and Multifaceted Phototheranostic Agent

Di Giosia M, Solda A, Seeger M, Cantelli A, Arnesano F, Nardella MI, Mangini V, Valle F, Montalti M, Zerbetto F, Rapino S, Calvaresi M, Ntziachristos V (2021)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2021

Journal

Advanced Functional Materials Wiley-VCH Verlag

Book Volume: 31

Article Number: 2101527

Journal Issue: 20

DOI: 10.1002/adfm.202101527

Abstract

Fullerenes are candidates for theranostic applications because of their high photodynamic activity and intrinsic multimodal imaging contrast. However, fullerenes suffer from low solubility in aqueous media, poor biocompatibility, cell toxicity, and a tendency to aggregate. C70@lysozyme is introduced herein as a novel bioconjugate that is harmless to a cellular environment, yet is also photoactive and has excellent optical and optoacoustic contrast for tracking cellular uptake and intracellular localization. The formation, water-solubility, photoactivity, and unperturbed structure of C70@lysozyme are confirmed using UV-visible and 2D 1H, 15N NMR spectroscopy. The excellent imaging contrast of C70@lysozyme in optoacoustic and third harmonic generation microscopy is exploited to monitor its uptake in HeLa cells and lysosomal trafficking. Last, the photoactivity of C70@lysozyme and its ability to initiate cell death by means of singlet oxygen (1O2) production upon exposure to low levels of white light irradiation is demonstrated. This study introduces C70@lysozyme and other fullerene-protein conjugates as potential candidates for theranostic applications.

Involved external institutions

University of Bologna / Università di Bologna IT Italy (IT) Technische Universität München (TUM) DE Germany (DE) University of Bari Aldo Moro / Università degli Studi di Bari Aldo Moro IT Italy (IT) Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR) / National Research Council of Italy IT Italy (IT)

How to cite

APA:

Di Giosia, M., Solda, A., Seeger, M., Cantelli, A., Arnesano, F., Nardella, M.I.,... Ntziachristos, V. (2021). A Bio-Conjugated Fullerene as a Subcellular-Targeted and Multifaceted Phototheranostic Agent. Advanced Functional Materials, 31(20). https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.202101527

MLA:

Di Giosia, Matteo, et al. "A Bio-Conjugated Fullerene as a Subcellular-Targeted and Multifaceted Phototheranostic Agent." Advanced Functional Materials 31.20 (2021).

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