FITC labeled silica nanoparticles as efficient cell tags: uptake and photostability study in endothelial cells.

The use of fluorescent nanomaterials has gained great importance in the field of medical imaging. Many traditional imaging technologies have been reported utilizing dyes in the past. These methods face drawbacks due to non-specific accumulation and photobleaching of dyes. We studied the uptake and internalization of two different sized (30 nm and 100 nm) FITC labeled silica nanoparticles in Human umbilical vein endothelial cell line. These nanomaterials show high biocompatability and are highly photostable inside live cells for increased period of time in comparison to the dye alone. To our knowledge, we report for the first time the use of 30 nm fluorescent silica nanoparticles as efficient endothelial tags along with the well studied 100 nm particles. We also have emphasized the good photostability of these materials in live cells.