Amine-Functionalized Lanthanide-Doped Zirconia Nanoparticles: Optical Spectroscopy, Time-Resolved Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer Biodetection, and Targeted Imaging

• DOI: 10.1021/ja306066a
• Publication Date: 2012-08-22T16:19:05Z
• Authors: Yongsheng Liu; Shanyong Zhou; Datao Tu; Zhuo Chen; Mingdong Huang; Haomiao Zhu; En Ma; Xueyuan Chen
• Keywords: Optical sensing

Ultrasmall inorganic oxide nanoparticles doped with trivalent lanthanide ions (Ln(3+)), a new and huge family of luminescent bioprobes, remain nearly untouched. Currently it is challenge to synthesize biocompatible ultrasmall bioprobes. Herein, we report bioprobe based on sub-5 nm amine-functionalized tetragonal ZrO(2)-Ln(3+) synthesized via facile solvothermal method ligand exchange. By utilizing the long-lived luminescence Ln(3+), demonstrate its application as sensitive time-resolved fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) detect avidin record-low detection limit 3.0 nM. The also exhibit specific recognition cancer cells overexpressed urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR, an important marker tumor biology metastasis) thus may have great potentials in targeted bioimaging.