Multi-Functionalized Carbon Nano-onions as Imaging Probes for Cancer Cells.

Carbon-based nanomaterials have attracted much interest during the last decade for biomedical applications. Multimodal imaging probes based on carbon nano-onions (CNOs) have emerged as a platform for bioimaging because of their cell-penetration properties and minimal systemic toxicity. Here, we describe the covalent functionalization of CNOs with fluorescein and folic acid moieties for both imaging and targeting cancer cells. The modified CNOs display high brightness and photostability in aqueous solutions and their selective and rapid uptake in two different cancer cell lines without significant cytotoxicity was demonstrated. The localization of the functionalized CNOs in late-endosomes cell compartments was revealed by a correlative approach with confocal and transmission electron microscopy. Understanding the biological response of functionalized CNOs with the capability to target cancer cells and localize the nanoparticles in the cellular environment, will pave the way for the development of a new generation of imaging probes for future biomedical studies.

Native chemical ligation,thiol-ene click: a methodology for the synthesis of functionalized peptides.

The sequential combination of native chemical ligation and thiol-ene radical chemistry (NCL-TEC) on the resulting cysteine thiol has been investigated as a methodology for rapidly accessing functionalized peptides. Three sequential cycles of native chemical ligation and subsequent thiyl radical reactions (including a free-radical-mediated desulfurization reaction) were carried out on a peptide backbone demonstrating the iterative nature of this process. The versatility of the thiyl radical reaction at cysteine was demonstrated through the introduction of a number of different side chains including an amino acid derivative, a carbohydrate group, and an alkyl azide. Conditions were developed that allowed the sequential NCL-TEC process to proceed in high yield.