Abstract
A new Iri-antennary, galactoside-capped gallamide dendritic anchor with thiolate focal group is synthesized via click chemistry. The highly hydrophilic dendron was efficiently anchored onto the surface of CdSe/ZnS core/shell nanoparticles in a covalent fashion, as evidenced by 1 H NMR spectrum of the resultant nanohybrid with intact core fluorescent property. The water-soluble nano-hybrid was found smoothly and selectively uptaken by lung cancer cells enriched with membrane-bound asialoprotein receptors in 2-3 h. as evidenced by confocal microscopic analysis. Furthermore, cancer cells that are undergoing active mitosis also tend to uptake the nanohybrids efficiently and remain sustainable in serum-containing medium for several days, which shed light on its application as a photodynamic drug carrier for apoptosis study. © 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA.