Recent Advances in Luminescence Imaging of Biological Systems Using Lanthanide(III) Luminescent Complexes

Abstract

The use of luminescence in biological systems allows one to diagnose diseases and understand cellular processes. Molecular systems, particularly lanthanide(III) complexes, have emerged as an attractive system for application in cellular luminescence imaging due to their long emission lifetimes, high brightness, possibility of controlling the spectroscopic properties at the molecular level, and tailoring of the ligand structure that adds sensing and therapeutic capabilities. This review aims to provide a background in luminescence imaging and lanthanide spectroscopy and discuss selected examples from the recent literature on lanthanide(III) luminescent complexes in cellular luminescence imaging, published in the period 2016–2020. Finally, the challenges and future directions that are pointing for the development of compounds that are capable of executing multiple functions and the use of light in regions where tissues and cells have low absorption will be discussed.

Advances in anion binding and sensing using luminescent lanthanide complexes

“…5 A Ln(III) receptor that binds adenosine diphosphate (ADP) selectively could allow real-time analysis of kinase enzyme activity by monitoring the production of ADP, 6 thereby providing a convenient luminescence assay for high throughput screening of potential kinase inhibitors for the treatment of cancer. 7,8 Many other sensing and bioimaging applications can be envisaged for Ln(III) receptors, [9][10][11] which serve to enhance the technologies available to biological and medical scientists. Emissive Ln(III) complexes, particularly of europium(III) and terbium(III) which emit in the red and green spectral region respectively, offer unique photophysical properties that are very valuable for anion sensing in biological media.…”

“… 5 A Ln( iii ) receptor that binds adenosine diphosphate (ADP) selectively could allow real-time analysis of kinase enzyme activity by monitoring the production of ADP, 6 thereby providing a convenient luminescence assay for high throughput screening of potential kinase inhibitors for the treatment of cancer. 7,8 Many other sensing and bioimaging applications can be envisaged for Ln( iii ) receptors, 9–11 which serve to enhance the technologies available to biological and medical scientists.…”

Opportunities for Persistent Luminescent Nanoparticles in Luminescence Imaging of Biological Systems and Photodynamic Therapy

“…L indicates lens, DM dichroic mirror, F filter, the purple and red lines indicate excitation and emission, respectively. Reproduced from [ 94 ] with permission from MDPI.…”

“…In this review, we will focus on persistent luminescent materials. The reader is directed to the literature for more details about lanthanide-doped nanoparticles and lanthanide complexes applications in luminescence imaging of biological systems [8,9,94]. [a] 488 515 3.97 [140] [a]-in water.…”

Electrochemistry, Electrodeposition, and Photoluminescence of Eu (III)/Lanthanides (III) on Terpyridine-Functionalized Ti Nanospikes

“…Lanthanide (Ln) elements have very usefully appeared in diverse application fields such as display industry, magnets, bio industry, pyroprocessing technology in nuclear power plants, and energy/environment fields [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]. The Ln elements have very unique and similar physicochemical properties because of electronic configurations in 4f-block in the periodic table.…”