title: Temperature sensing using fluorescent nanothermometers.
abstract: Acquiring the temperature of a single living cell is not a trivial task. In this paper, we devise a novel nanothermometer, capable of accurately determining the temperature of solutions as well as biological systems such as HeLa cancer cells. The nanothermometer is based on the temperature-sensitive fluorescence of NaYF(4):Er(3+),Yb(3+) nanoparticles, where the intensity ratio of the green fluorescence bands of the Er(3+) dopant ions ((2)H(11/2) --> (4)I(15/2) and (4)S(3/2) --> (4)I(15/2)) changes with temperature. The nanothermometers were first used to obtain thermal profiles created when heating a colloidal solution of NaYF(4):Er(3+),Yb(3+) nanoparticles in water using a pump-probe experiment. Following incubation of the nanoparticles with HeLa cervical cancer cells and their subsequent uptake, the fluorescent nanothermometers measured the internal temperature of the living cell from 25 degrees C to its thermally induced death at 45 degrees C.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Concordia University, 7141 Sherbrooke Street West, Montreal, QC, H4B 1R6 Canada.
authors.forename: Fiorenzo
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Vetrone
authors.forename: Rafik
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Naccache
authors.forename: Alicia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zamarrón
authors.forename: Angeles
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Juarranz de la Fuente
authors.forename: Francisco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sanz-Rodríguez
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Martinez Maestro
authors.forename: Emma
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Martín Rodriguez
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Jaque
authors.forename: José
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: García Solé
authors.forename: John A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Capobianco
mesh_terms: D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000295:instrumentation*; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence / Q000379:methods*; D013821:Thermometers