Fluorescent Nanothermometers for Intracellular Thermal Sensing

Abstract

The importance of high-resolution intracellular thermal sensing and imaging in the field of modern biomedicine has boosted the development of novel nanosized fluorescent systems (fluorescent nanothermometers) as the next generation of probes for intracellular thermal sensing and imaging. This thermal mapping requires fluorescent nanothermometers with good biocompatibility and high thermal sensitivity in order to obtain submicrometric and subdegree spatial and thermal resolutions, respectively. This review describes the different nanosized systems used up to now for intracellular thermal sensing and imaging. We also include the later advances in molecular systems based on fluorescent proteins for thermal mapping. A critical overview of the state of the art and the future perspective is also included.

Determining the 3D orientation of optically trapped upconverting nanorods by in situ single-particle polarized spectroscopy

“…18 Moreover, recent studies have demonstrated that some UCNPs are not only capable of in vitro imaging but, in addition, they can also be used as intracellular thermal and chemical sensing units. [19][20][21][22] In addition, intracellular studies based on single UCNP are nowadays a real possibility as the synthesis of ultra-small (<10 nm in diameter) UCNPs showing large NIR-to-VIS optical conversion efficiencies has been recently demonstrated. 23 As a consequence, UCNPs are also being considered as promising † Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Polarized emission of the colloidal suspension of NaYF 4 optical probes for experiments at single-cell and singleparticle levels.…”

Highly efficient upconversion of Er3+ in Yb3+ codoped non-cytotoxic strontium lanthanum aluminate phosphor for low temperature sensors

“…As a variety of cellular events are effectively marked by temperature changes, a way to monitor the temperature of biological materials by a non-contact method is very essential 32 . This requirement is the base of our investigation in which non-cytotoxic oxide based material with low phonon energy has been investigated for its application in temperature sensing applications in biological materials.…”

Highly luminescent film functionalized with CdTe quantum dots by layer‐by‐layer assembly

“…1,2 QDs are widely applied as light emitting diodes, [3][4][5] bioprobes in sensing, 6,7 imaging, [8][9][10] and other emitting materials. [11][12][13] In most applications, such as light emitting diodes and photoelectric biosensors, QDs are ultimately required to be stably immobilized on substrates such as films, which can effectively eliminate the issue of colloid diffusion.…”