Fluorescent bionanoprobes to characterize cytoadhesion and cytoinvasion

To overcome current limitations in diagnostic imaging and targeted drug delivery, a highly versatile tool is presented that can be used to representatively investigate the effects of submicroparticles intended for the use in biological systems. An effective approach to render colloids trackable is developed by stable attachment of the fluorescent probe BODIPY 493/503 (BOD: 4,4-difluoro-1,3,5,7,8-pentamethyl-4-bora-3a,4a-diaza-s-indacene) to a biodegradable and biocompatible particle core matrix. BOD submicroparticles are shown to be stable, can be surface modified, and exhibit high fluorescence emission. Upon conjugation with human serum albumin (nonspecific) and wheat germ agglutinin (biorecognitive) as model ligands explicit differences are found in the cytoadhesive and cytoinvasive characteristics of the submicroparticles using Caco-2 cells. These results demonstrate the potency of BOD-labeled colloids as a versatile analytical platform for a multifaceted investigation of cell-particle interactions in biological systems.