New Bismuth Germanate Oxide Nanoparticle Material for Biolabel Applications in Medicine

Abstract

Bismuth germanate (Bi4Ge3O12, BGO) has been the focus of several studies due to its scintillation properties. It has been employed as detector in scientific research and medicine, and herein we studied its possible biomedical applications. The photoluminescence properties of the uncoated and protein-coated nanoparticles were analyzed in different body fluids, at different pH. The nanoparticles yielded blueish-white luminescence with a maximum emission peak at 485 nm corresponding to the3P1→1S0electron transition of Bi3+. They showed luminescence properties at different pH values and in human fluids, such as urine and blood serum. Finally, the BGO nanoparticles were functionalized with the anti-HLA I W6/32 monoclonal antibody and the capacity of the antibody-loaded nanoparticles to recognize the cognate antigen (HLA I) of the W6/32 mAb was assessed on the human promyelocytic leukemia cell line THP-1. The possibility of functionalizing BGO nanoparticles with W6/32 antibodies and their specificity to identify THP-1 cells make them promising candidates for biomedical applications as biolabels.