A Cell-Targeted Non-Cytotoxic Fluorescent Nanogel Thermometer Created with an Imidazolium-Containing Cationic Radical Initiator

Seiichi Uchiyama; Toshikazu Tsuji; Kyoko Kawamoto; Kentaro Okano; Eiko Fukatsu; Takahiro Noro; Kumiko Ikado; Sayuri Yamada; Yuka Shibata; Teruyuki Hayashi; Noriko Inada; Masaru Kato; Hideki Koizumi; Hidetoshi Tokuyama

doi:10.1002/anie.201801495

A Cell-Targeted Non-Cytotoxic Fluorescent Nanogel Thermometer Created with an Imidazolium-Containing Cationic Radical Initiator

Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2018 May 4;57(19):5413-5417. doi: 10.1002/anie.201801495. Epub 2018 Apr 6.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-0033, Japan.
² Central Laboratories for Key Technologies, KIRIN Company Limited, 1-13-5 Fukuura Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa, 236-0004, Japan.
³ Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Tohoku University, Sendai, Miyagi, 980-8578, Japan.
⁴ Department of Chemical Science and Engineering, Kobe University, Kobe, Hyogo, 657-8501, Japan.
⁵ The Graduate School of Biological Sciences, Nara Institute of Science and Technology, Ikoma, Nara, 630-0192, Japan.
⁶ Department of Nutrition, Koshien University, 10-1 Momijigaoka, Takarazuka, Hyogo, 665-0006, Japan.

PMID: 29537622
DOI: 10.1002/anie.201801495

Abstract

A cationic fluorescent nanogel thermometer based on thermo-responsive N-isopropylacrylamide and environment-sensitive benzothiadiazole was developed with a new azo compound bearing imidazolium rings as the first cationic radical initiator. This cationic fluorescent nanogel thermometer showed an excellent ability to enter live mammalian cells in a short incubation period (10 min), a high sensitivity to temperature variations in live cells (temperature resolution of 0.02-0.84 °C in the range 20-40 °C), and remarkable non-cytotoxicity, which permitted ordinary cell proliferation and even differentiation of primary cultured cells.

Keywords: fluorescence spectroscopy; fluorescent probes; imaging agents; nanoparticles; sensors.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't