Folic acid conjugated Prussian blue nanoparticles: Synthesis, physicochemical characterization and targeted cancer cell sensing

In the study, folic acid doped Prussian blue nanoparticles (FA-PB NPs) for theranostic applications were synthesized for the first time. Folic acid was chosen for maintaining nanoparticle stability and also to increase its binding affinity especially for cancer cells. Multifunctional PB NPs were fabricated by one route co-precipitation method to synthesize biocompatible NPs without any further process. Then, FA was doped on the surface of PB NPs. The characterization studies demonstrated that the FA-PB NPs modified sensor surface had large surface area with biocompatible and hydrophilic properties where cancer cells can easily bind. The FA-PB NPs were used for the modification of pencil graphite electrode (PGE) for electrochemical detection of colon cancer cells (DLD-1). Electrochemical impedimetric diagnosis was based on the specific interaction between FA groups on the nanoparticles and FA receptors overexpressed on cancer cells. The voltammetric and impedimetric results showed that the FA-PB NPs based electrode had good sensing performance for the immobilized DLD-1 cells.