Silk Fibroin Coated Magnesium Oxide Nanospheres: A Biocompatible and Biodegradable Tool for Noninvasive Bioimaging Applications.

ABSTRACT: Fluorescent nanoparticles (NPs) have been increasingly studied as contrast agents for better understanding of biological processes at the cellular and molecular level. However, their use as bioimaging tools is strongly dependent on their optical emission as well as their biocompatibility. This work reports the fabrication and characterization of silk fibroin (SF) coated magnesium oxide (MgO) nanospheres, containing oxygen, Cr³⁺ and V²⁺ related optical defects, as a nontoxic and biodegradable hybrid platform for bioimaging applications. The MgO-SF spheres demonstrated enhanced emission efficiency compared to noncoated MgO NPs. Furthermore, SF sphere coating was found to overcome agglomeration limitations of the MgO NPs. The hybrid nanospheres were investigated as an in

SUBMITTER: Li J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7998877 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature