Water-soluble fluorescent copolymer for effective recognition and imaging of tumor

A multisite-targeting polymer with the ability of both fluorescence and targeting recognition was successfully synthesized by using fluorescein as the fluorescent group and folic acid as the targeted group. The chemical structure of fluorescent monomer and polymer was characterized and analyzed by FTIR and 1H NMR. The cytotoxicity and biocompatibility of this polymer were characterized by MTT assay and hemolysis rate respectively. The cell viability was 85 % and the hemolysis rate of erythrocyte was only 0.147 % even at the concentration of PFLAC was 10−4 mol/L. The polymer has also been applied to cell imaging for the identification of human colorectal cancer cells. Interestingly, the results show that the polymer was able to enter into the specific cell with an excellent targeting ability.