In-vitro cytotoxicity and cellular uptake studies of luminescent functionalized core-shell nanospheres

Monodispersed luminescent functionalized core-shell nanospheres (LFCSNs) were successfully synthesized and investigated for their cyto-toxic effect on human liver hepatocellular carcinoma cell line (HepG2 cells) by adopting MTT, DNA Ladder, TUNEL assay and qPCR based gene expressions through mRNA quantifications. The TUNEL and DNA ladder assays suggested an insignificant apoptosis in HepG2 cells due to the LFCSNs treatment. Further, the qPCR results also show that the mRNA expressions of cell cycle checkpoint gene p53 and apoptosis related gene (caspase-9) was up-regulated, while the antiapoptotic gene BCl-2 and apoptosis related genes FADD and CAS-3 (apoptosis effecter gene) were down-regulated in the LFCSNs treated cells. The nanospheres that were loaded into the cells confirm their intracellular uptake by light and fluorescent spectro-photometry and microscopy imaging analysis. The loaded nanospheres demonstrate an absolute resistance to photo-bleaching, which were applied for dynamic imaging to real-time tracking in-vitro cell migratory activity for continuous 24 and 48 h durations using a time-lapsed fluorescent microscope. These properties of LFCSNs could therefore promote applications in the area of fluorescent protein biolabeling and drug-delivery.