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Updated: Feb 13, 2026

Preparation and In Vitro Characterization of Dendrimer-based Contrast Agents for Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Published on: December 4, 2016
Silica nanoparticles with Tb(III)-centered luminescence decorated by Ag0 as efficient cellular contrast agent with
Svetlana V Fedorenko1, Svetlana L Grechkina1, Alsu R Mukhametshina1
1A.E. Arbuzov Institute of Organic and Physical Chemistry, Kazan Scientific Center, Russian Academy of Sciences, Arbuzov Street 8, 420088 Kazan, Russian Federation.
Abstract:
The present work introduces composite luminescent nanoparticles (Ag0-Tb3+-SNs), where ultra-small nanosilver (4 ± 2 nm) is deposited onto amino-modified silica nanoparticles (35±6 nm) doped by green luminescent Tb(III) complexes. Ag0-Tb3+-SNs are able to image cancer (Hep-2) cells in confocal microscopy measurements due to efficient cell internalization, which is confirmed by TEM images of the Hep-2 cells exposed by Ag0-Tb3+-SNs. Comparative analysis of the cytotoxicity of normal fibroblasts (DK-4) and cancer cells (Hep-2) incubated with various concentrations of Ag0-Tb3+-SNs revealed the concentration range where the toxic effect on the cancer cells is significant, while it is insignificant towards the nonmalignant fibroblasts cells. The obtained results reveal Ag0-Tb3+-SNs as good cellular contrast agent able to induce the cancer cells death, which makes them promising theranostic in cancer diagnostics and therapy.
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