Comparison of eosin and fluorescein conjugates for the photoinitiation of cell-compatible polymer coatings

Jacob L. Lilly, Anuhya Gottipati, Calvin F. Cahall, Mohamed Agoub, Brad J. Berron

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

17 Scopus citations

Abstract

Targeted photopolymerization is the basis for multiple diagnostic and cell encapsulation technologies. While eosin is used in conjunction with tertiary amines as a water-soluble photoinitiation system, eosin is not widely sold as a conjugate with antibodies and other targeting biomolecules. Here we evaluate the utility of fluorescein-labeled bioconjugates to photopolymerize targeted coatings on live cells. We show that although fluorescein conjugates absorb approximately 50% less light energy than eosin in matched photopolymerization experiments using a 530 nm LED lamp, appreciable polymer thicknesses can still be formed in cell compatible environments with fluorescein photosensitization. At low photoinitiator density, eosin allows more sensitive initiation of gelation. However at higher functiona-lization densities, the thickness of fluorescein polymer films begins to rival that of eosin. Commercial fluorescein-conjugated antibodies are also capable of generating conformal, protective coatings on mammalian cells with similar viability and encapsulation efficiency as eosin systems.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere0190880
JournalPLoS ONE
Volume13
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 2018

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Funding: This work was partially supported by R01 HL127682-01 and the National Science Foundation under Award CBET-1351531 to Brad Berron. The authors acknowledge the financial support from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Grant R25CA153954 and a National Cancer Institute Cancer Nanotechnology Training Center (NCI-CNTC) Traineeship. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. The views expressed in this manuscript do not represent the views of the NCI, NIH, NSF, or any other government agency or official.

Publisher Copyright:
Copyright: © 2018 Lilly et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology (all)
  • Agricultural and Biological Sciences (all)
  • General

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Comparison of eosin and fluorescein conjugates for the photoinitiation of cell-compatible polymer coatings'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this