title: Persistent luminescence nanoprobe for biosensing and lifetime imaging of cell apoptosis via time-resolved fluorescence resonance energy transfer.
abstract: Time-resolved fluorescence technique can reduce the short-lived background luminescence and auto-fluorescence interference from cells and tissues by exerting the delay time between pulsed excitation light and signal acquisition. Here, we prepared persistent luminescence nanoparticles (PLNPs) to design a universal time-resolved fluorescence resonance energy transfer (TR-FRET) platform for biosensing, lifetime imaging of cell apoptosis and in situ lifetime quantification of intracellular caspase-3. Three kinds of PLNPs-based nanoprobes are assembled by covalently binding dye-labeled peptides or DNA to carboxyl-functionalized PLNPs for the efficient detection of caspase-3, microRNA and protein. The peptides-functionalized nanoprobe is also employed for fluorescence lifetime imaging to monitor cell apoptosis, which shows a dependence of cellular fluorescence lifetime on caspase-3 activity and thus leads to an in situ quantification method. This work provides a proof-of-concept for PLNPs-based TR-FRET analysis and demonstrates its potential in exploring dynamical information of life process.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry for Life Science, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, PR China.
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry for Life Science, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, PR China. Electronic address: jpl@nju.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Jianping
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lei
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry for Life Science, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, PR China.
authors.forename: Jintong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry for Life Science, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, PR China.
authors.forename: Fengjiao
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry for Life Science, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, PR China. Electronic address: hxju@nju.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Huangxian
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ju
mesh_terms: D017209:Apoptosis; D015374:Biosensing Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D053148:Caspase 3; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D031541:Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer / Q000379:methods*; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D007700:Kinetics; D049449:Luminescence; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000378:metabolism; D057054:Molecular Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000648:ultrastructure; D010982:Platelet-Derived Growth Factor / Q000378:metabolism; D055672:Static Electricity; D013997:Time Factors; D014961:X-Ray Diffraction
chemical_list: C524940:MIRN21 microRNA, human; D035683:MicroRNAs; D010982:Platelet-Derived Growth Factor; D053148:Caspase 3
keywords: Biosensor; Caspase; Fluorescent probe; Image analysis; Persistent luminescence nanoparticles