Sustainable synthesis of luminescent CdTe quantum dots coated with modified silica mesoporous nanoparticles: Towards new protein scavengers and smart drug delivery carriers

Abstract

The synthesis and full characterization of a family of sustainable luminescent nanoparticles, CdTeQDs@MNs, made of quantum dots coated by modified mesoporous silica nanoparticles is reported. The presence of the luminescent QDs allows the imaging of the nanoparticles during cell internalization, as well as the visualization of selective release of doxorubicin inside the cell (via pH stimuli). The modified mesoporous silica nanoparticles lead to pore size improvement allowing better encapsulation and controlled release, of different active principles studied such as, small molecules (rhodamine B), drugs (doxorubicin), and isolated proteins such as bovine serum albumin, lysozyme, carbonic anhydrase, ovalbumin, α-lactalbumin, hemoglobin, myoglobin and cytochrome C. Finally, and as a proof-of-concept the efficacy of these novel platforms was demonstrated through the successful extraction and recognition of proteins in raw serum of osteoarthritis and prosthesis patients, without any previous protein depletion.