Fabrication of versatile cyclodextrin-functionalized upconversion luminescence nanoplatform for biomedical imaging.
Lanthanide-based upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) are a new type of luminescent tags that show great application potential in biomedical fields. However, a major challenge when applying UCNPs in biomedical research is the lack of a versatile strategy to make water-dispersible and biocompatible UCNPs with high simplicity in functionalization. To address this problem, in the present work, we employed 6-phosphate-6-deoxy-β-cyclodextrin (βPCD) as the novel ligand to fabricate a versatile upconversion luminescent nanoplatform. Using βPCD as the surface ligand not only enhances the stability and biocompatibility of the UCNPs under physiological conditions but also enables simple conjugation with various functional molecules, such as organic dyes and biomolecules, via the host-guest interaction between those molecules and the cyclodextrin cavity. The conjugated upconversion nanoprobe then displays excellent capability in labeling the cancer cells and tumor tissue slices for luminescent imaging. These results demonstrate that the versatile cyclodextrin-functionalized upconversion nanoplatform appears particularly flexible for further modifications, indicating great potential for applications in biosensing and bioimaging.
State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan University , Changsha, Hunan 410082, China.
Cheng
C
Ma
Tong
T
Bian
Sheng
S
Yang
Changhui
C
Liu
Tierui
T
Zhang
Jinfeng
J
Yang
Yinhui
Y
Li
Jishan
J
Li
Ronghua
R
Yang
Weihong
W
Tan
D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D005260:Female; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D028581:Lanthanoid Series Elements / Q000737:chemistry; D049449:Luminescence; D049408:Luminescent Agents / Q000737:chemistry; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D061848:Optical Imaging; D047392:beta-Cyclodextrins / Q000737:chemistry
D028581:Lanthanoid Series Elements; D049408:Luminescent Agents; D047392:beta-Cyclodextrins; C031215:betadex