Uptake and Imaging of Glycine Functionalized Gold Nanoclusters in Spodoptera Frugiperda (sf9) Cells

Fluorescent gold nanoclusters (Au NCs) have attracted considerable interest in biological application. Here, we reported a novel Au NCs with blue fluorescence, conjugated with glycine (Gly) and rotenone (R). The structure and properties of Au–BSA–Gly–R conjugates were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), UV–visible, fluorescence spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and Zeta potential measurement. The results of fluorescent microscopic imaging revealed that the Au NCs with different ligands were capable of being selectively uptaken by Spodoptera frugiperda (Sf9) cells. Furthermore, the gold content of Au–BSA–Gly–R in Sf9 cells was 2.2 and 2.6 times higher than that of Au–BSA and Au–BSA–R, respectively. It illustrated that nanoparticles after conjugated with Gly could gain specificity to intracellular transportation. This study indicated that the Au NCs after mediated by Gly not only had great potential for applications in insect cell imaging, but also could play an important role of amino acid for agrochemicals delivery in agricultural fields.