Reversible and Sensitive Hg Detection by a Cell-Permeable Ytterbium Complex.

A cell-permeable ytterbium complex shows reversible binding with Hg in aqueous solution and in vitroby off-on visible and NIR emission. The fast response and 150 nM sensitivity of Hg detection is based upon FRET and the lanthanide antenna effect. The reversible Hg detection can be performed in vitro, and the binding mechanism is suggested by NMR employing the motif structure in a La complex and by DFT calculations.

Gadolinium and Platinum in Tandem: Real-time Multi-Modal Monitoring of Drug Delivery by MRI and Fluorescence Imaging.

A novel dual-imaging cisplatin-carrying molecular cargo capable of performing simultaneous optical and MR imaging is reported herein. This long-lasting MRI contrast agent (r relaxivity of 23.4 mMs at 3T, 25 C) is a photo-activated cisplatin prodrug () which enables real-time monitoring of anti-cancer efficacy.

A Smart Europium-Ruthenium Complex as Anticancer Prodrug: Controllable Drug Release and Real-Time Monitoring under Different Light Excitations.

A unique, dual-function, photoactivatable anticancer prodrug, RuEuL, has been tailored that features a ruthenium(II) complex linked to a cyclen-europium chelate via a π-conjugated bridge. Under irradiation at 488 nm, the dark-inactive prodrug undergoes photodissociation, releasing the DNA-damaging ruthenium species. Under evaluation-window irradiation (λ = one-photon 350 nm or two-photon 700 nm), the drug delivery process can be quantitatively monitored in real-time because of the long-lived red europium emission.

A luminescent lanthanide approach towards direct visualization of primary cilia in living cells.

We report a direct imaging tool, HGEu001, for primary cilia in living cells, which is specific, and based on the UV light or near infrared laser (via two-photon excitation) induced long-lived europium luminescence.

Plasmonic enhancement and polarization dependence of nonlinear upconversion emissions from single gold nanorod@SiO@CaF:Yb,Er hybrid core-shell-satellite nanostructures.

Lanthanide-doped upconversion nanocrystals (UCNCs) have recently become an attractive nonlinear fluorescence material for use in bioimaging because of their tunable spectral characteristics and exceptional photostability. Plasmonic materials are often introduced into the vicinity of UCNCs to increase their emission intensity by means of enlarging the absorption cross-section and accelerating the radiative decay rate. Moreover, plasmonic nanostructures (e.

αβ-Isoform specific erbium complexes highly specific for bladder cancer imaging and photodynamic therapy.

We have synthesized a bifunctional erbium-porphyrin tumor imaging and PDT agent (Er-R3) that is capable of killing bladder cancer cells via its selective binding to the integrin αβ isoform overexpressed on the cell membrane.

Urinary Polyamines: A Pilot Study on Their Roles as Prostate Cancer Detection Biomarkers.

Current screening methods towards prostate cancer (PCa) are not without limitations. Research work has been on-going to assess if there are other better tests suitable for primary or secondary screening of PCa to supplement the serum prostate specific antigen (PSA) test, which fails to work accurately in a grey zone of 4-10ng/ml. In this pilot study, the potential roles of urinary polyamines as prostate cancer biomarkers were evaluated.

Gallium and Functionalized-Porphyrins Combine to Form Potential Lysosome-Specific Multimodal Bioprobes.

A water-soluble bimetallic normal ("cold") and radiochemical ("hot") gallium-porphyrin-ruthenium-bipyridine complex (GaporRu-1) has been synthesized by microwave methodology in short reaction times with good (>85%) yields. (68)GaporRu-1 is demonstrated to be a potential multimodal and functional bioprobe for positron emission tomography (PET), lysosome specific optical imaging, and photodynamic therapy.

Room temperature molecular up conversion in solution.

Up conversion is an Anti-Stokes luminescent process by which photons of low energy are piled up to generate light at a higher energy. Here we show that the addition of fluoride anions to a D2O solution of a macrocyclic erbium complex leads to the formation of a supramolecular [(ErL)2F](+) assembly in which fluoride is sandwiched between two complexes, held together by the synergistic interactions of the Er-F-Er bridging bond, four intercomplex hydrogen bonds and two aromatic stacking interactions. Room temperature excitation into the Er absorption bands at 980 nm of a solution of the complex in D2O results in the observation of up converted emission at 525, 550 and 650 nm attributed to Er centred transitions via a two-step excitation.

Ultrabright Lanthanide Nanoparticles.

Tb-doped La Tb F nanoparticles were prepared by a simple and reproducible microwave-assisted synthetic protocol in water. The nanoparticles were characterized by XRD, TEM, dynamic light scattering and inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy elemental analysis. Eleven ligands with varying coordination and photosensitizing abilities were designed to bind at the surface of the Tb-doped nanoparticles.

Ultrabright Lanthanide Nanoparticles.

Invited for this month's cover are the collaborating groups of Dr. Loïc J. Charbonnière at CNRS/Université de Strasbourg, France and Dr.

pH-Dependent Cancer-Directed Photodynamic Therapy by a Water-Soluble Graphitic-Phase Carbon Nitride-Porphyrin Nanoprobe.

Theranostic photodynamic nanomaterials suffer from poor water solubility and nontargeted toxicity. A water-soluble graphitic-phase carbon nitride-based material (g-C N ) conjugated to a positively charged porphyrin P2 (conjugating concentration: 60 μm mg  mL ) is shown to be a new concept of photodynamic therapeutic agent (g-C N -P2). The pH-sensitive emission of g-C N is the driving force for the generation of O from g-C N -P2.

A smart "off-on" gate for the detection of hydrogen sulphide with Cu(ii)-assisted europium emission.

A water-soluble and emissive Eu-complex () bearing a DO3A(Eu)-pyridine-aza-crown motif has been prepared and its Cu complex has been demonstrated to be a smart luminescence "off-on" gate for HS detection in water with a nano-molar detection limit (60 nM). binds to Cu ions selectively ( = 1.2 × 10 M) inducing 17-fold luminescence quenching and forming a 1 : 1 stoichiometric complex (-Cu), which responds to HS selectively with restoration of the original Eu emission of followed by a further 40-fold luminescence enhancement, forming a 1 : 1 stoichiometric complex (-NaS, = 1.

Photo-reactive charge trapping memory based on lanthanide complex.

Traditional utilization of photo-induced excitons is popularly but restricted in the fields of photovoltaic devices as well as photodetectors, and efforts on broadening its function have always been attempted. However, rare reports are available on organic field effect transistor (OFET) memory employing photo-induced charges. Here, we demonstrate an OFET memory containing a novel organic lanthanide complex Eu(tta)3ppta (Eu(tta)3 = Europium(III) thenoyltrifluoroacetonate, ppta = 2-phenyl-4,6-bis(pyrazol-1-yl)-1,3,5-triazine), in which the photo-induced charges can be successfully trapped and detrapped.

Real-time in situ monitoring via europium emission of the photo-release of antitumor cisplatin from a Eu-Pt complex.

A water-soluble light-responsive antitumor agent, PtEuL, based on a cisplatin-linked europium-cyclen complex has been synthesized and evaluated for controlled cisplatin release by linear/two-photon excitation in vitro with concomitant turn-on and long-lived europium emission as a responsive traceable signal.

Directional Plk1 inhibition-driven cell cycle interruption using amphiphilic thin-coated peptide-lanthanide upconversion nanomaterials as in vivo tumor suppressors.

Polo-like kinase 1 (Plk1) is a major serine/threonine protein kinase which regulates key mitotic events such as centrosome duplication, spindle assembly and chromosome separation. Overexpression and aberrant activities of Plk1 can be detected in different types of cancer. Given that the unique polo box domain (PBD) pocket provides an excellent drug target for Plk1 binding and inhibition, we have rationally designed multifunctional lanthanide-doped upconversion nanomaterials.

In vivo selective cancer-tracking gadolinium eradicator as new-generation photodynamic therapy agent.

In this work, we demonstrate a modality of photodynamic therapy (PDT) through the design of our truly dual-functional--PDT and imaging--gadolinium complex (Gd-N), which can target cancer cells specifically. In the light of our design, the PDT drug can specifically localize on the anionic cell membrane of cancer cells in which its laser-excited photoemission signal can be monitored without triggering the phototoxic generation of reactive oxygen species--singlet oxygen--before due excitation. Comprehensive in vitro and in vivo studies had been conducted for the substantiation of the effectiveness of Gd-N as such a tumor-selective PDT photosensitizer.

Monitoring and inhibition of Plk1: amphiphilic porphyrin conjugated Plk1 specific peptides for its imaging and anti-tumor function.

Polo-like kinase 1 (Plk1) is well-known for taking part in cell cycle progression and regulation. Using small molecules for Plk inhibition has been well documented in the literature. However, there are several intrinsic and intractable problems associated with this approach.

EBNA1-specific luminescent small molecules for the imaging and inhibition of latent EBV-infected tumor cells.

An EBNA1-specific small molecule (JLP2) has been synthesised. As a strong binder and dimerization inhibitor of EBNA1 in vitro, JLP2 may be used as a selective luminescent agent for the imaging and inhibition of latent EBV-infected cancer cells.

Highly selective and responsive visible to near-IR ytterbium emissive probe for monitoring mercury(II).

A new lanthanide probe based on the fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) process with the combination of ytterbium porphyrinate complex and a rhodamine B derivative unit was synthesized to detect the Hg(2+) ion with responsive emission in the visible and near-IR region with a detection limit of 10 μM.

Bifunctional up-converting lanthanide nanoparticles for selective in vitro imaging and inhibition of cyclin D as anti-cancer agents.

Inhibition of the CDK4/cyclin D complex through the substrate recruitment site on the cyclin positive regulatory subunit is recognised as being a promising anti-cancer target. Specific peptide sequences can be used to selectively disrupt this target, but the development of peptides as anti-tumor agents in vitro/in vivo presents several obstacles. Poor cell internalization, low sensitivity towards enzymatic degradation in vivo, and ineffectiveness in monitoring via indirect screening are all issues which must be overcome.

Real time detection of cell cycle regulator cyclin A on living tumor cells with europium emission.

Six water-soluble europium complexes (Eu-L1-P(n) and Eu-L2-P(n), n = 1, 2 and 3) with one antenna chromophore, two different linkers (L1 and L2) and three proposed cyclin A specific peptides (P1: -GAKRRLIF-NH2; P2: -GGAKRRLIF-NH2; P3: -Hex- GAKRRLIF-NH2) have been synthesized. With structural information available, comparisons of the cyclin grooves of cyclin A and the six europium complexes have been made, and insights have been gained into the determinants for peptide binding and the foundation of differential binding. Experiment-wise, the linear and two-photon induced photophysical properties of these conjugates were monitored in aqueous solution.

Porphyrin-based ytterbium complexes targeting anionic phospholipid membranes as selective biomarkers for cancer cell imaging.

A porphyrin ytterbium complex (Yb-N) showed strong binding to phosphatidylserine and capability to differentiate cancer cells via targeting the anionic phospholipid membrane.

In vitro cell imaging using multifunctional small sized KGdF4:Yb3+,Er3+ upconverting nanoparticles synthesized by a one-pot solvothermal process.

Multifunctional KGdF4:18%Yb(3+),2%Er(3+) nanoparticles with upconversion fluorescence and paramagnetism are synthesized. The average sizes of the nanoparticles capped with branched polyethyleneimine (PEI) and 6-aminocaproic acid (6AA) are ~14 and ~13 nm, respectively. Our KGdF4 host does not exhibit any phase change with the decrease of particle size, which can prevent the detrimental significant decrease in upconversion luminescence caused by this effect observed in the well-known NaYF4 host.

PEG modified BaGdF₅:Yb/Er nanoprobes for multi-modal upconversion fluorescent, in vivo X-ray computed tomography and biomagnetic imaging.

Herein, a multi-functional nanoprobe of polyethylene glycol (PEG) modified BaGdF₅:Yb/Er upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) for tri-modal bioimaging of fluorescence, computed X-ray tomography (CT), and magnetic application is demonstrated for the first time. The PEG-modified BaGdF₅:Yb/Er UCNPs with optimal small size were synthesized by a facile one-pot hydrothermal method. The as-designed single-phase nanoprobe presents near-infrared to visible upconversion emissions in UC fluorescent bioimaging of HeLa cell.