State Key Laboratory of Electroanalytical Chemistry, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, P. R. China.
Nanoscale. 2011 Oct 5;3(10):4365-71. doi: 10.1039/c1nr10736d. Epub 2011 Sep 9.
In vivo upconversion luminescence (UCL) imaging, exhibiting favorable characteristics such as high photostability, no blinking, sharp emission lines, and long lifetimes, is recognized as the excellent and significant photoluminescence imaging for the future. To develop the imaging system with high visual sensitivity and tissue penetration, the functional molecules with X-ray computed tomography (CT) contrast were grafted onto upconversion nanoparticles to obtain β-NaYF(4):18% Yb(3+),2%Er(3+)@SiO(2)-I/PEG (UCNPs@SiO(2)-I/PEG) nanoprobes. These nanoprobes are water-soluble, have low cytotoxicity, and possess excellent UCL and remarkable CT contrast. Of particular note is that, besides the element iodine, rare earth elements (Y, Yb, and Er) present in the nanoprobes also show CT contrast. Moreover, no background autofluorescence signal is found in in vivo UCL images. We believe that these nanoprobes with dual modal in vivo imaging of UCL and CT can serve as a promising platform for clinical diagnosis or biomedical studies.
体内上转换发光（UCL）成像是一种未来极具潜力的光学生物成像技术，其具有高光稳定性、无闪烁、发射谱线尖锐和长寿命等优点。为了开发具有高视觉灵敏度和组织穿透能力的成像系统，将具有 X 射线计算机断层扫描（CT）对比功能的分子嫁接到上转换纳米粒子上，得到了β- NaYF(4):18% Yb(3+)，2% Er(3+)@SiO(2)-I/PEG（UCNPs@SiO(2)-I/PEG）纳米探针。这些纳米探针具有水溶性、低细胞毒性、优异的 UCL 和显著的 CT 对比。值得注意的是，纳米探针中除了碘元素外，还存在稀土元素（Y、Yb 和 Er），它们也具有 CT 对比。此外，在体内 UCL 图像中没有发现背景自发荧光信号。我们相信，这些具有 UCL 和 CT 双模态体内成像的纳米探针可以作为临床诊断或生物医学研究的有前途的平台。
