title: Phase and Size Control of Core-Shell Upconversion Nanocrystals Light up Deep Dual Luminescence Imaging and CT In Vivo.
abstract: Upconversion nanocrystals (UCNCs) have recently been explored as optical imaging nanoprobes. However, conventional β-NaLuF4 (-) based UCNCs often suffer from large particle size and weak upconversion luminescence (UCL) intensity, leading to poor biocompatibility and low detection sensitivity. Here, a novel strategy for controlling the crystalline phase and size of UCNCs has been developed by doping of yttrium ions, resulting in particle size reduction and phase transition. The total UCL intensity of prepared core-shell UCNCs is significantly enhanced up to ≈4.9 and ≈17.4 times after Tm(3+) and Er(3+) doping than that of core UCNCs, offering deeper tissue UCL imaging with a depth of 8 mm in vivo. Moreover, the CT signal of core-shell UCNCs is ≈1.5 and ≈3.5 times brighter than that of core UCNCs and commercial ioversol agent because of increasing contents of Lu(3+) doped in UCNCs. The synthesized core-shell UCNCs hold a great promise in deep UCL and CT dual-modality imaging in vitro and in vivo.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomaterials and Fujian Collaborative Innovation Center for Exploitation and Utilization of Marine Biological Resources, College of Materials, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361005, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Ning
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Molecular Vaccinology and Molecular Diagnosis and Center for Molecular Imaging and Translational Medicine, School of Public Health, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361102, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomaterials and Fujian Collaborative Innovation Center for Exploitation and Utilization of Marine Biological Resources, College of Materials, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361005, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Yaming
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomaterials and Fujian Collaborative Innovation Center for Exploitation and Utilization of Marine Biological Resources, College of Materials, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361005, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Dong
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, Department of Chemistry, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361005, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Chuan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomaterials and Fujian Collaborative Innovation Center for Exploitation and Utilization of Marine Biological Resources, College of Materials, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361005, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Shefang
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ye
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Molecular Vaccinology and Molecular Diagnosis and Center for Molecular Imaging and Translational Medicine, School of Public Health, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361102, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Liming
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Nie
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomaterials and Fujian Collaborative Innovation Center for Exploitation and Utilization of Marine Biological Resources, College of Materials, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361005, P. R. China.|Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, Department of Chemistry, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361005, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ren
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D004871:Erbium / Q000737:chemistry; D005459:Fluorides / Q000737:chemistry; D006367:HeLa Cells; D056945:Hep G2 Cells; D006801:Humans; D008027:Light; D049449:Luminescence; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D061848:Optical Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D010316:Particle Size; D013932:Thulium / Q000737:chemistry; D015019:Yttrium / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D015019:Yttrium; D004871:Erbium; D013932:Thulium; D005459:Fluorides
keywords: core-shell; deep upconversion luminescence; dual modality imaging; lanthanide doping; lutetium