title: Red-emitting DPSB-based conjugated polymer nanoparticles with high two-photon brightness for cell membrane imaging.
abstract: New red-emitting conjugated polymers have been successfully synthesized by incorporating classical two-photon absorption (TPA) units, electron-rich units, and a small amount of electron-deficient units along the polymer backbones. Water-dispersible nanoparticles (NPs) based on these polymers were also fabricated for applications in two-photon excitation fluorescence imaging of cell membrane. Through optimization of the polymer/matrix mass ratio and the initial feed concentration of the polymer solution, a high quantum yield (QY) of 24% was achieved for the red-emitting NPs in water. TPA cross section and two-photon action cross section values of these polymers at 750 nm reached up to 1000 GM and 190 GM per repeat unit in aqueous media, 2.5 × 10(5) GM and 4.7 × 10(4) GM per NP, respectively. Furthermore, these NPs displayed excellent photostability and biocompatibility. Their applications as two-photon excitation fluorescence probes for cell membrane imaging have been demonstrated in three different cell lines with excellent imaging contrast. These results demonstrated that these polymer NPs hold great potentials as excellent two-photon excitation fluorescence probes in various biological applications.
authors.affiliation: †Institute of Polymer Optoelectronic Materials and Devices, State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, P. R. China.|‡Department of Chemistry, National University of Singapore,3 Science Drive 3, Singapore117543.
authors.forename: Peng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: ‡Department of Chemistry, National University of Singapore,3 Science Drive 3, Singapore117543.
authors.forename: Shuang
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: †Institute of Polymer Optoelectronic Materials and Devices, State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Yaocheng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.affiliation: ‡Department of Chemistry, National University of Singapore,3 Science Drive 3, Singapore117543.
authors.forename: Linghui
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Qian
authors.affiliation: ‡Department of Chemistry, National University of Singapore,3 Science Drive 3, Singapore117543.
authors.forename: Nengyue
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: ‡Department of Chemistry, National University of Singapore,3 Science Drive 3, Singapore117543.
authors.forename: Shao Q
authors.initials: SQ
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.affiliation: †Institute of Polymer Optoelectronic Materials and Devices, State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Fei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: ‡Department of Chemistry, National University of Singapore,3 Science Drive 3, Singapore117543.
authors.forename: Qing-Hua
authors.initials: QH
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: †Institute of Polymer Optoelectronic Materials and Devices, State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Cao
mesh_terms: D002046:Bupranolol / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000737:chemistry; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000737:chemistry*; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D057054:Molecular Imaging / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D017785:Photons; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D011108:Polymers; D002046:Bupranolol; C046920:2-((1-(2-chloro-5-methylphenoxy)-3-tert-butylamino-2-propoxy)succinyl)-1,3-dipalmitoylglyceroyl
keywords: cell imaging; conjugated polymers; energy transfer; fluorescence; nanoparticles; two-photon