Modulation of Cellular Fate of Vinyl Triarylamines through Structural Fine Tuning: To Stay or Not To Stay in the Mitochondria?

Mitochondria are involved in many cellular pathways and dysfunctional mitochondria are linked to various diseases. Hence efforts have been made to design mitochondria-targeted fluorophores for monitoring the mitochondrial status. However, the factors that govern the mitochondria-targeted potential of dyes are not well-understood.

Intracellular location matters: rationalization of the anti-inflammatory activity of a manganese(ii) superoxide dismutase mimic complex.

A conjugate of a Mn-based superoxide dismutase mimic with a Re-based multimodal probe 1[combining low line] was studied in a cellular model of oxidative stress. Its speciation was investigated using Re and Mn X-fluorescence. Interestingly, 1[combining low line] shows a distribution different from its unconjugated analogue but a similar concentration in mitochondria and a similar bioactivity.

Hydrophilic Fluorescent Nanoprodrug of Paclitaxel for Glioblastoma Chemotherapy.

Highly water-soluble, nontoxic organic nanoparticles on which paclitaxel (PTX), a hydrophobic anticancer drug, has been covalently bound via an ester linkage (4.5% of total weight) have been prepared for the treatment of glioblastoma. These soft fluorescent organic nanoparticles (FONPs), obtained from citric acid and diethylenetriamine by microwave-assisted condensation, show suitable size (Ø = 17-30 nm), remarkable solubility in water, softness as well as strong blue fluorescence in an aqueous environment that are fully retained in cell culture medium.

Simultaneous cathodoluminescence and electron microscopy cytometry of cellular vesicles labeled with fluorescent nanodiamonds.

Light and Transmission Electron Microscopies (LM and TEM) hold potential in bioimaging owing to the advantages of fast imaging of multiple cells with LM and ultrastructure resolution offered by TEM. Integrated or correlated LM and TEM are the current approaches to combine the advantages of both techniques. Here we propose an alternative in which the electron beam of a scanning TEM (STEM) is used to excite concomitantly the luminescence of nanoparticle labels (a process known as cathodoluminescence, CL), and image the cell ultrastructure.

Lanthanide-based upconversion nanoparticles for connexin-targeted imaging in co-cultures.

From the perspective of deep tissue imaging, it is required that the excitation light can penetrate deep enough to excite the sample of interest and the fluorescence emission is strong enough to be detected. The longer wavelengths like near infrared are absorbed less by the tissue and are scattered less implying deeper penetration. This has drawn interest to the class of nanoparticles called upconversion nanoparticles (UCNs) which has an excitation in the near-infrared wavelength and the emission is in the visible/near-infrared wavelength (depending on the doped ions).

Upconversion fluorescent nanoparticles as a potential tool for in-depth imaging.

Upconversion nanoparticles (UCNs) are nanoparticles that are excited in the near infrared (NIR) region with emission in the visible or NIR regions. This makes these particles attractive for use in biological imaging as the NIR light can penetrate the tissue better with minimal absorption/scattering. This paper discusses the study of the depth to which cells can be imaged using these nanoparticles.

Upconversion: road to El Dorado of the fluorescence world.

Upconversion nanoparticles (UCNs), in the recent times have attracted attention due to their unique properties, which makes them ideal fluorophores for use in biological applications. There have been various reports on their use for targeted cell imaging, drug and gene delivery and also for diffuse optical tomography. Here we give a brief introduction on what are UCNs and the mechanism of upconversion, followed by a discussion on the biological applications of UCNs and further on what the future holds for UCNs.

Imaging gap junctions with silica-coated upconversion nanoparticles.

Upconversion nanoparticles (UCN) that are excited in the near infrared (NIR) region were synthesized and modified to enable their application to biological systems for imaging. The UCN obtained are oleic acid capped and hence hydrophobic in nature. Since the particles were to be used for imaging cells, a surface modification to make them hydrophilic and biocompatible was performed.