An integrated optical and chromogenic probe for tumor cell imaging

Tumor cell heterogeneity determines the prognosis and metastasis of the tumor. It is pivotal to develop an innovative and facile cell imaging probe for cell and tumor tissue imaging. Combined the fluorescent properties, enzyme-like catalytic activity of Au nanocluster materials and the catalytic activity of Iron-based nanoparticles to establish an integrated probe is novel work for tumor cell multi-modal imaging. Herein, we developed a facile method to prepare Au/Fe integrated probe using BSA as a template. By the optimization of the experimental conditions, the Au/Fe integrated multi-functional imaging probe was successfully synthesized. The bio-safety and enzyme-like catalysis were also explored. The results showed that the Au/Fe integrated probe possess good fluorescent, biosecurity and enzyme-like catalysis property. Meanwhile, the Au/Fe integrated probe exhibited excellent tumor cell optical and chromogenic imaging ability. The results suggested that the prepared Au/Fe integrated multi-functional imaging probe is a promising candidate for biolabeling of the biological sample.