Issue 3, 2020

Degradation of ZnGa2O4:Cr3+ luminescent nanoparticles in lysosomal-like medium

Abstract

The ultimate goal of in vivo imaging is to provide safe tools to probe the inside of a body in order to obtain pathological information, monitor activities, and examine disease progression or regression. In this context zinc gallate doped with chromium III (ZGO) nanoparticles with persistent luminescence properties have been previously developed, and their biodistribution as well as in vitro toxicity were evaluated. However, to date, nothing is known about their potential transformations in biological media, which may hinder their biomedical applications. In order to know if these nanoparticles could degrade, the present work consists of studying their fate over time depending on both their coating and the aqueous media in which they are dispersed. ZGO nanoparticles have been dispersed in three different aqueous solutions for up to 90 days and characterized by numerous techniques. Among the evaluated dispersion media, Artificial Lysosomal Fluid (ALF) mimicking the intracellular lysosome environment elicited significant degradation of ZGO nanoparticles. The chelating agents present in ALF have proved to play a major role in the degradation of the ZGO, by stabilizing the nanoparticles and increasing the contact. An important time decrease of the luminescence properties has also been observed, which correlated with the release of ions from ZGO nanoparticles as well as their decreasing size. This information is valuable since it indicates, for the first time, the long-term degradation of persistent luminescent nanoprobes in an in vivo like model medium. Therefore, possible elimination of the imaging probes after in vivo preclinical applications could be foreseen.

Graphical abstract: Degradation of ZnGa2O4:Cr3+ luminescent nanoparticles in lysosomal-like medium

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
09 Aug 2019
Accepted
04 Dec 2019
First published
04 Dec 2019

Nanoscale, 2020,12, 1967-1974

Degradation of ZnGa2O4:Cr3+ luminescent nanoparticles in lysosomal-like medium

T. Lécuyer, M. Durand, J. Volatron, M. Desmau, R. Lai-Kuen, Y. Corvis, J. Seguin, G. Wang, D. Alloyeau, D. Scherman, N. Mignet, F. Gazeau and C. Richard, Nanoscale, 2020, 12, 1967 DOI: 10.1039/C9NR06867H

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements