Lanthanide-doped nanocrystals (Ln3+-NCs) have shown great promise in the luminescence imaging of living cells and deep tissues. However, currently it remains challenging to readily engineer hydrophobic Ln3+-NCs with hydrophilicity and molecular recognition ability.
In a recent study published in Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., Prof. CHEN Xueyuan from Fujian Institute of Research on the Structure of Matter of Chinese Academy of Sciences and Prof. YANG Huanghao from Fuzhou University reported for the first time the engineering of graphene oxide (GO) modified lanthanide nanoprobes to circumvent such a bottleneck.
The researchers prepared monodisperse NCs@GO via optimizing GO size and core-shell structure of NaYF4:Yb,Er@NaYF4, thus combining intense visible/near-infrared II (NIR-II) luminescence of NCs and the unique surface properties and biomedical functions of GO.
Such binary nanostructure not only features broad solvent dispersibility, efficient cell uptake and excellent biocompatibility, but also enables further modifications with various agents, ranging from DNA, protein to nanoparticle without tedious conjugate procedures.
Moreover, the researchers demonstrate in proof-of-concept experiments that, NCs@GO is capable of realizing simultaneous intracellular tracking and microRNA-21 visualization, as well as highly sensitive in vivo tumor-targeted NIR-II imaging at 1525 nm.
They revealed for the first time the encapsulation of hydrophobic Ln3+‐NCs with single‐layer GO, which confers the Ln3+‐nanoprobe with excellent dispersibility, biocompatibility, and flexible surface attributes for visible/NIR‐II luminescent bioimaging.
This study may offer a general strategy for engineering nanoprobes with customizable surface attributes and biomedical functions that are highly desired for versatile imaging and therapeutic applications.
Schematic illustration of the design of NCs@GO and their applications in tumor-targeted NIR imaging (Image by Prof. CHEN’s group)
Contact:
Prof. CHEN Xueyuan
Fujian Institute of Research on the Structure of Matter
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Email: xchen@fjirsm.ac.cn
