Novel oligopeptide nanoprobe for targeted cancer cell imaging.

Authors :: Ding WQ
Qin SY
Cheng YJ
Ma YH
Zhang AQ
Source :: RSC advances [RSC Adv] 2018 Sep 03; Vol. 8 (54), pp. 30887-30893. Date of Electronic Publication: 2018 Sep 03 (Print Publication: 2018).
Publication Year :: 2018
Abstract: Here we designed and constructed a tryptophan-phenylalanine-phenylalanine-tryptophan (WFFW) tetrapeptide, which generated photostable and tunable fluorescence emission signals from 340 nm to 500 nm. The WFFW tetrapeptide could self-assemble into a spherical nanostructure with enhanced fluorescence intensity. Driven by π-π stacking and hydrogen bond interaction, WFFW co-assembled with arginine-glycine-aspartic acid (RGD) modified WFFW to form a cancer-targeted fluorescent nanoprobe, which could selectively image the cancer cells.<br />Competing Interests: There are no conflicts to declare.<br /> (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)