Protein‐ and Peptide‐directed Approaches to Fluorescent Metal Nanoclusters

Abstract

Fluorescent metal nanoclusters (FMNCs), one of the promising functional nanomaterials, have aroused great interest in diverse areas due to their unique characteristics, such as ultrasmall size, high fluorescence, excellent photophysical and chemical stability, good biocompatibility, and tuneable emissions. Many methods have been developed to prepare the FMNCs. Among them, the biomolecule‐directed approach, which could produce FMNCs with high water‐solubility, good biocompatibility, enhanced fluorescence, and rich surface chemistry for conjugation has attracted enormous attention. In this review, we highlight the substantial progress in protein‐ and peptide‐directed approaches to varieties of FMNCs. The synthetic protocols and potential formation mechanisms are well summarized. Selected key applications, ranging from biological and chemical detection to cellular and in vivo imaging, are also discussed. Finally, the current challenges, as well as future perspectives, are briefly discussed. The lessons from these case studies would provide a valuable guide to designing nanomaterials with desired or even personalized functions in the future.

Fluorescent nanoprobes for sensing and imaging of metal ions: Recent advances and future perspectives

“…The synthesis, biofunctionalization, and applications of metal NCs have been extensively reviewed elsewhere [17,84,103-107]. In the following section, we focus on the recent advances in the application of fluorescent metal NCs in metal ion sensing and imaging areas.…”

The Effect of Fatty Acids and BSA Purity on Synthesis and Properties of Fluorescent Gold Nanoclusters

“…Gold nanoclusters (AuNCs), an intensively studied class of fluorophores with several benefits, including high stability, extremely long fluorescent lifetime, large Stokes shift, red emission, and biocompatibility, have been examined and developed in recent years [1][2][3][4]. Due to special features, protein-encapsulated AuNCs, a promising material for fluorescence labeling in biomedical imaging [5][6][7] and sensing [1,8], have been studied to understand the role of a template to AuNCs bio-functionality [4,9].…”

Chemiluminescence and electrochemiluminescence applications of metal nanoclusters

“…With the rapid development of metal NCs, the synthesis, optical properties and fluorescent applications of metal NCs have been reviewed [5,[47][48][49][50]. Thus, the purpose of this review is to summarize and highlight the recent works on metal NCs used in CL and ECL application, with a focus on the roles of the different metal NCs in CL and ECL reaction and their new analytical applications.…”

“…The diameter of metal NCs is comparable to the Fermi wavelength of electrons in metal, leading to the continuous density of states splitting into discrete energy levels, and thus rendering metal NCs attractive characteristics, including unique optical, electrical, electrochemical, magnetic, and chemical properties [5][6][7]. Recent years have witnessed an explosive growth in studies concerning the use of metal NCs *Corresponding authors (email: unihanshuang@163.com; guobaoxu@ciac.ac.cn) as enhanced materials or fluorescent probes in biosensing, bioimaging, heavy metal or organic pollutant sensor [8][9][10][11].…”