Functional Bioimaging Probes: Fluorescent Conjugated Polymer Nanoparticles Coupled with Pleural Fluid-Derived Peptides and Proteins
Thiol-functionalized conjugated polymers offer a versatile platform for designing fluorescent nanomaterials with biomedical relevance. In this study, a thiol modified conjugated polymer composed of benzoxadiazole (BO) and carbazole (POxC-SH) was synthesized, then converted into fluorescent nanoparticles (POxC-SH NPs) via a reprecipitation method. The nanoparticles exhibited strong photoluminescence, colloidal stability, and monodispersity in media. Surface thiol groups enabled conjugation with peptide and protein components isolated from the pleural fluid of lung adenocarcinoma patients using SMCC cross-linking. The resulting bioconjugated nanoprobe was characterized by spectroscopic methods, FTIR, XPS, and Mass spectrometry. Cellular studies in A549 and BEAS-2B cell lines demonstrated efficient internalization and low toxicity of both native and conjugated nanoparticles. This work presents a proof of concept for using thiol-modified conjugated polymer nanoparticles as intrinsically fluorescent, patient-adaptable imaging agents, bridging conjugated polymer chemistry with targeted biomedical applications.
Authors
- Hichem Moulahoum (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3934-6415)
- Ozge Ozufuklar (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-0722-6955)
- Figen Zihnioğlu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8216-7004)
- Kutsal Turhan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4150-0514)
- Tevfik İlker Akçam (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7108-9469)
- Fırat Barış Barlas (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6401-686X)
- Didem Aksu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4971-0153)
- Saniye Söylemez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8955-133X)
- Ali Çırpan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3051-8380)
- Oguzhan Karakurt (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1856-0503)
- Nursima Ucar
- Kerem Tok (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7244-3949)
- Emine Guler (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2381-9775)
- Dilara Yeniterzi
- Suna Timur (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3129-8298)
- Dilara Gürsoy (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4561-4589)
Institutions
- Middle East Technical University (TR)
- Acıbadem University (TR)
- Ege University (TR)
- Thoracic Surgery Foundation (US)
- Faculty (United Kingdom) (GB)
- Necmettin Erbakan University (TR)
- Analysis and Testing Centre (CN)
- Istanbul University-Cerrahpaşa (TR)
- Department of Physics, Mathematics and Informatics (BY)
- Institute of Nanotechnology (GB)
- Engineering (Italy) (IT)
- Bioengineering Center (RU)
- Acıbadem Adana Hospital (TR)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Bioconjugate Chemistry
- Published
- 2025-09-12
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.bioconjchem.5c00321
- Primary Topic
- Luminescence and Fluorescent Materials
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00