Fluorescent chitosan functionalized magnetic polymeric nanoparticles: Cytotoxicity and in vitro evaluation of cellular uptake

Nanoparticles possessing magnetic and fluorescent properties were fabricated by the covalent attachment of fluorescein isothiocyanate onto magnetic polymeric nanoparticles functionalized by chitosan. The synthesized magnetic polymeric nanoparticles-chitosan/fluorescein isothiocyanate were successfully used for labeling the living organ and blood-related cancer cells, i.e., HeLa, Hep G2, and K562 cells. The cytotoxicity test of nanoparticles at various incubation times indicated the high cell viability (>90%) without morphological change. The confocal microscopy revealed that they could pass through cell membrane within 2h for K562 cells and 3h for HeLa and Hep G2 cells and then confine inside cytoplasm of all types of tested cells for at least 24h. Therefore, the synthesized magnetic polymeric nanoparticles-chitosan/fluorescein isothiocyanate would potentially be used as cell tracking in theranostic applications.