Fluorescence in Nanobiotechnology: Sophisticated Fluorophores for Novel Applications

Abstract

Nanobiotechnology is one of the fastest growing and broadest-ranged interdisciplinary subfields of the nanosciences. Countless hybrid bio-inorganic composites are currently being pursued for various uses, including sensors for medical and diagnostic applications, light- and energy-harvesting devices, along with multifunctional architectures for electronics and advanced drug-delivery. Although many disparate biological and nanoscale materials will ultimately be utilized as the functional building blocks to create these devices, a common element found among a large proportion is that they exert or interact with light. Clearly continuing development will rely heavily on incorporating many different types of fluorophores into these composite materials. This review covers the growing utility of different classes of fluorophores in nanobiotechnology, from both a photophysical and a chemical perspective. For each major structural or functional class of fluorescent probe, several representative applications are provided, and the necessary technological background for acquiring the desired nano-bioanalytical information are presented.

Nanoscale Fluorescence Emitters

“…Such prospect is expected in cellular studies and in the whole-body imaging, where loading the particles with two-photonic dyes will allow achieving extreme sensitivity and resolution (Bertazza et al 2006 ). The technologies based on incorporation of lanthanides with longlifetime emission have started to be explored with very promising prospects (Hötzer et al 2012 ). The protection of cells from toxic effects of these dyes and protection of dyes from chemical and photochemical decomposition will appear as additional benefi ts.…”

“…It is the world, in which different materials exhibit new and often unexpected optical properties. Inspired by a broad range of new possibilities many scientists have started exploring this new fi eld (Liu and Tang 2010 ;Hötzer et al 2012 ). For a short time these new materials started substituting traditionally used organic dyes in numerous practical applications in clinical diagnostics (Andreescu and Sadik 2004 ), monitoring the environment (Riu et al 2006 ), agriculture and food safety control (Patel 2002 ), detection of biological warfare agents (Gooding 2006 ) and in different industries.…”

Rare earth based nanostructured materials: synthesis, functionalization, properties and bioimaging and biosensing applications

“…In particular, nanoparticles (NPs) possess the size (ranging from 1 to 100 nm) in which most of the biomolecular interactions take place [5][6][7], so the incorporation of RE into NPs allows their use in many different biomedical applications, including bioimaging, biosensing, targeting, drug delivery and other therapies [8].…”

High‐Resolution Vertical Observation of Intracellular Structure Using Magnetically Responsive Microplates

“…Since this microplate system is suitable for live-cell imaging, it will be applicable for the detailed analysis of localization and kinetics of the protein molecules in both parasites and their host by integrating with direct visualization technology such as genetically encoded fluorescent probes or nanoparticles. [32,33] Therefore, the findings obtained by integrating the microplate with the CLSM broaden the scientific field and reveal the relation between the host cell and the parasite invasion efficiency. The proposed method is an attractive platform for the manipulation of adherent cells, the observation of invading microbes, and the analysis of the microbe-host cell interaction.…”