Lighting up cells with lanthanide self-assembled helicates

Abstract

Lanthanide bioprobes and bioconjugates are ideal luminescent stains in view of their low propensity to photobleaching, sharp emission lines and long excited state lifetimes permitting time-resolved detection for enhanced sensitivity. We show here how the interplay between physical, chemical and biochemical properties allied to microfluidics engineering leads to self-assembled dinuclear lanthanide luminescent probes illuminating live cells and selectively detecting biomarkers expressed by cancerous human breast cells.

Cyclometalated iridium(III) complexes for life science

“…In case one of more of the previously listed drawbacks are encountered, depending on the specific conditions used for the imaging experiments, it is essential to have alternative markers to overcome them. To fulfil this goal, luminescent transition metal complexes of low spin d 6 electronic configuration such a ruthenium(II), rhenium(I), and iridium(III), of d 8 electronic configuration such as gold(I) and platinum(II) [10,[35][36][37], as well as lanthanoid complexes of visible emitters, such as Eu(III) and Tb(III), or NIR emitters, such as Yb(III) [38][39][40][41][42], have been investigated. All these complexes display favourable chemical characteristics and advantageous photophysical properties that make them ideal candidates for the development of complementary probes to organic fluorophores for applications in cellular imaging [43].…”

Lanthanide light for biology and medical diagnosis

“…Both delay and acquisition times have to be chosen carefully in order to maximize the SNR and they depend on the lifetime of the probe chelate. Typically, t d / obs lies in the range 0.1-0.5 and t a / obs in the range 3-4[23]. (iv) Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET).…”

Lanthanide-based self-assemblies of 2,6-pyridyldicarboxamide ligands: Recent advances and applications as next-generation luminescent and magnetic materials

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] Whilst historically this field has been heavily skewed towards transition metal-based systems, there is a smaller sub-section made up of lanthanide-based assemblies that have been the focal point for some research groups owing to their well-known optical and magnetic properties. [8][9][10][11][12][13][14] Moreover, with the current drive to develop more complex luminescent and magnetically interesting materials (e.g. luminescent cellular imaging systems, luminescent sensors, MRI contrast agents, Light Emitting Devices, Single…”