Responsive upconversion nanoprobe for background-free hypochlorous acid detection and bioimaging

Run Zhang*, Liuen Liang, Qingtao Meng, Jiangbo Zhao, Hang T. Ta, Li Li, Zhiqiang Zhang, Yasmina Sultanbawa, Zhi Ping Xu

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    79 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Responsive nanoprobes play an important role in bioassay and bioimaging, early diagnosis of diseases and treatment monitoring. Herein, a upconversional nanoparticle (UCNP)-based nanoprobe, Ru@UCNPs, for specific sensing and imaging of hypochlorous acid (HOCl) is reported. This Ru@UCNP nanoprobe consists of two functional components,, i.e., NaYF4:Yb, Tm UCNPs that can convert near infrared light-to-visible light as the energy donor, and a HOCl-responsive ruthenium(II) complex [Ru(bpy)2(DNCH-bpy)](PF6)2 (Ru-DNPH) as the energy acceptor and also the upconversion luminescence (UCL) quencher. Within this luminescence resonance energy transfer nanoprobe system, the UCL OFF–ON emission is triggered specifically by HOCl. This triggering reaction enables the detection of HOCl in aqueous solution and biological systems. As an example of applications, the Ru@UCNPs nanoprobe is loaded onto test papers for semiquantitative HOCl detection without any interference from the background fluorescence. The application of Ru@UCNPs for background-free detection and visualization of HOCl in cells and mice is successfully demonstrated. This research has thus shown that Ru@UCNPs is a selective HOCl-responsive nanoprobe, providing a new way to detect HOCl and a new strategy to develop novel nanoprobes for in situ detection of various biomarkers in cells and early disgnosis of animal diseases.

    Original languageEnglish
    Article number1803712
    Pages (from-to)1-11
    Number of pages11
    JournalSmall
    Volume15
    Issue number2
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 11 Jan 2019

    Keywords

    • bioassay and imaging
    • luminescence resonance energy transfer
    • nanoprobes
    • paper-based test strips
    • selective HOCl detection and imaging

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