Facile fabrication of glycopolymer-based iron oxide nanoparticles and their applications in the carbohydrate–lectin interaction and targeted cell imaging

Abstract

A novel method for facile fabrication of glycopolymer-based iron oxide nanoparticles (GIONs) is developed. Via perfluorophenylazide photochemically induced C–H insertion, alkynyl groups were introduced onto the polymer which was precoated on the iron oxide nanoparticle surface. GIONs were then prepared by conjugating the azide-functionalized carbohydrate to the introduced alkynyl groups via click chemistry. Polyvinyl alcohol-coated and dextran-coated iron oxide NPs were chosen as scaffolds to attach two different carbohydrates, α-D-mannose and β-D-glucose, to fabricate multivalent GIONs, respectively. The multivalent GIONs demonstrated high binding affinities towards the corresponding lectins in both protein and cell chips. As a proof of concept, fluorescent GIONs (Gal-RhB-IONPs) were fabricated, which showed selective and efficient internalization by ASGP-R overexpressing HepG2 cells targeted.