Doped semiconductor nanocrystal based fluorescent cellular imaging probes

Divergent Responses of Hydrophilic CdSe and CdSe@CdS Core-Shell Nanocrystals in Apoptosis and In Vitro Cancer Cell Imaging: A Comparative Analysis

With their distinctive core-shell design, core-shell nanocrystals have drawn interest in catalysis, medicinal research, and nanotechnology. These nanocrystals have a variety of characteristics and possible uses. The application of core-shell nanocrystals offers significant potential in increasing diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for cancer research in apoptosis and in vitro cancer cell imaging. In the present study, we investigated the fluorescence behavior of hydrophilic CdSe (core-only) and CdSe@CdS (core-shell) nanocrystals (NCs) and their potential in cancer cell imaging. The addition of a CdS coating to CdSe NCs increased the fluorescence intensity tenfold. The successful fabrication of core-shell CdSe@CdS nanocrystals was proven by a larger particle size (evaluated via DLS and TEM) and their XRD pattern and surface morphology compared to CdSe (core-only) NCs. When these NCs were used for bioimaging in MCF-7 and HEK-293 cell lines, they demonstrated excellent cellular uptake due to higher fluorescence intensity within cancerous cells than normal cells. Comparative cytotoxicity studies revealed that CdSe NCs were more toxic to all three cell lines (HEK-293, MCF-7, and HeLa) than CdSe@CdS core-shell structures. Furthermore, a decrease in mitochondrial membrane potential and intracellular ROS production supported NCs inducing oxidative stress, which led to apoptosis via the mitochondria-mediated pathway. Increased cytochrome c levels, regulation of pro-apoptotic gene expression (e.g., p53, Bax), and down-regulation of Bcl-2 all suggested cellular apoptosis occurred via the intrinsic pathway. Significantly, at an equivalent dose of core-shell NCs, core-only NCs induced more oxidative stress, resulting in increased apoptosis. These findings shed light on the role of a CdS surface coating in reducing free radical release, decreasing cytotoxicity, and improving fluorescence, advancing the field of cell imaging.

Nanomaterial-Based Dual-Emission Ratiometric Fluorescent Sensors for Biosensing and Cell Imaging

Owing to the unique optophysical properties of nanomaterials and their self-calibration characteristics, nanomaterial-based (e.g., polymer dots (Pdots) quantum dots (QDs), silicon nanorods (SiNRs), and gold nanoparticle (AuNPs), etc.) ratiometric fluorescent sensors play an essential role in numerous biosensing and cell imaging applications. The dual-emission ratiometric fluorescence technique has the function of effective internal referencing, thereby avoiding the influence of various analyte-independent confounding factors. The sensitivity and precision of the detection can therefore be greatly improved. In this review, the recent progress in nanomaterial-based dual-emission ratiometric fluorescent biosensors is systematically summarized. First, we introduce two general design approaches for dual-emission ratiometric fluorescent sensors, involving ratiometric fluorescence with changes of one response signal and two reversible signals. Then, some recent typical examples of nanomaterial-based dual-emission ratiometric fluorescent biosensors are illustrated in detail. Finally, probable challenges and future outlooks for dual-emission ratiometric fluorescent nanosensors for biosensing and cell imaging are rationally discussed.

Highly sensitive detection for alkaline phosphatase using doped ZnS quantum dots with room temperature phosphorescence and its logic gate function

This paper presents a highly sensitive sensing system for alkaline phosphatase by room temperature phosphorescence of Mn doped ZnS quantum dots and pyrophosphate. The sensing system has intense room temperature phosphorescence emission in the absence of alkaline phosphatase. The phosphorescence is quenched gradually with the addition of alkaline phosphatase. The emission "on" without alkaline phosphatase may be attributed to the increased probability of charge transfer from one of surface traps to the dopant bands of another resulted from the shortened dot-to-dot distance by the strong chelation of pyrophosphate and Zn²⁺ ion and the hydrogen bonding between pyrophosphate and β-cyclodextrin. The addition of alkaline phosphatase causes pyrophosphate hydrolyzed to orthophosphate and the dot-to-dot distance of quantum dots back to the normal, and then the phosphorescence "off". The factors affecting the sensing system performance were also optimized. Under the optimal experimental conditions, the linear range for alkaline phosphatase is determined as 0.2-10 U/L with a LOD at 0.045 U/L. The recovery of human serum was determined from 93.75%-103.03%, indicating a potential application in biomedical diagnosis. Furthermore, an RTP-based "INHIBIT" logic gate using the doped ZnS quantum dots was also presented.

Cu-doped quantum dots: a new class of near-infrared emitting fluorophores for bioanalysis and bioimaging

Transition metal ion-doped quantum dots (QDs) exhibit unique optical and photophysical properties that offer significant advantages over undoped QDs, such as larger Stokes shift to avoid self-absorption/energy transfer, longer excited-state lifetimes, wider spectral window, and improved chemical and thermal stability. Among the doped QDs emitters, Cu is widely introduced into the doped QDs as novel, efficient, stable, and tunable optical materials that span a wide spectrum from blue to near-infrared (NIR) light. Their unique physical and chemical characteristics enable the use of Cu-doped QDs as NIR labels for bioanalysis and bioimaging. In this review, we discuss doping mechanisms and optical properties of Cu-doped QDs that are capable of NIR emission. Applications of Cu-doped QDs in in vitro biosensing and in in vivo bioimaging are highlighted. Moreover, a prospect of the future of Cu-doped QDs for bioanalysis and bioimaging are also summarized.

Colloidal Nanobioconjugate with Complementary Surface Chemistry for Cellular and Subcellular Targeting

Chemically and biochemically functionalized colloidal nanoparticles with appropriate surface chemistry are essential for various biomedical applications. Although a variety of approaches are now available in making such functional nanoparticles and nanobioconjugates, the lack of complementary surface chemistry often leads to poor performance with respect to intended biomedical applications. This feature article will focus on our efforts to make colloidal nanobioconjugates with appropriate/complementary surface chemistry for better performance of a designed nanoprobe with respect to cellular and subcellular targeting applications. In particular, we emphasize polyacrylate-based coating chemistry followed by a conjugation strategy for transforming <10 nm inorganic nanoparticle to colloidal nanoprobe of 20-50 nm hydrodynamic size. We show that a colloidal nanoprobe can be chemically designed to control the cell-nanoparticle interaction, cellular endocytosis, and targeting/labeling of subcellular compartments. Further study should be directed to adapt this surface chemistry to different nanoparticles, fine tune the surface chemistry for targeting/imaging on the subcellular/molecular length scale, and develop a delivery nanocarrier for subcellular compartments.

Supramolecular Host-Guest Chemistry-Based Folate/Riboflavin Functionalization and Cancer Cell Labeling of Nanoparticles

Nanoparticle-based cellular probes are commonly designed via covalent conjugation with affinity biomolecules. Those nanobioconjugates selectively interact with cell surface receptors and induce endocytosis followed by intracellular trafficking. However, this approach requires functional modification of biomolecules that may alter their biochemical activity. Here, we show that supramolecular host-guest chemistry can be utilized as an alternative approach in nanoparticle functionalization and selective cell labeling. We have used cyclodextrin-conjugated quantum dots (QDs) for supramolecular host-guest interaction-based functionalization with folate (QD-folate) and riboflavin (QD-riboflavin), where cyclodextrin acts as a host for the folate/riboflavin guest. We demonstrate that QD-folate and QD-riboflavin selectively label cells that have over-expressed folate/riboflavin receptors and induce the endocytosis pathway similar to covalently conjugated folate-/riboflavin-based nanoprobes. However, labeling is highly sensitive to the molar ratio of folate/riboflavin to cyclodextrin and incubation time. The presented functionalization/labeling approach is unique as it does not require covalent conjugation and may be extended for in vivo targeting application via simultaneous delivery of host and guest molecules.

Nanoparticle cellular uptake by dendritic wedge peptides: achieving single peptide facilitated delivery

Significant efforts are being undertaken to optimize the cargo carrying capacity and especially the cellular delivery efficiency of functionalized nanoparticles for applications in biological research and pharmacological delivery. One approach to increasing nanoparticle surface cargo display capacity is to decrease the number of moieties required for mediating cellular delivery by improving their efficiency. We describe a series of multivalent cell penetrating peptide (CPP) dendrimers that facilitate rapid cellular delivery of prototypical nanoparticle-semiconductor quantum dots (QDs). The modular CPP dendrimers were assembled through an innovative convergent oxime ligation strategy between (Arg₉)_n motifs and a dendritic QD-coordination scaffold. Dendrimeric peptides sequentially incorporate a terminal (His)₆ motif for metal-affinity QD coordination, a Pro₉ spacer, a branching poly-lysine scaffold, and wedged display of (Arg₉)_n binding motifs with n = 1×, 2×, 4×, 8×, 16× multivalency. QD dendrimer display capacity was estimated using structural simulations and QD-(Arg₉)_1-16 conjugates characterized by dynamic light scattering along with surface plasmon resonance-based binding assays to heparan sulfate proteoglycan surfaces. Cellular uptake via endocytosis was confirmed and peptide delivery kinetics investigated as a function of QD-(Arg₉)_1-16 conjugate exposure time and QD assembly ratio where cellular viability assays reflected no overt cytotoxicity. The ability of single dendrimer conjugates to facilitate cellular uptake was confirmed for QD-(Arg₉)_2-16 repeats along with the ability to deliver >850 kDa of protein cargo per QD. Minimizing the number of CPPs required for cellular uptake is critical for expanding nanoparticle cargo carrying capacity and can allow for inclusion of additional sensors, therapeutics and contrast agents on their surface.

An overview of nanoparticles commonly used in fluorescent bioimaging

This article gives an overview of the various kinds of nanoparticles (NPs) that are widely used for purposes of fluorescent imaging, mainly of cells and tissues. Following an introduction and a discussion of merits of fluorescent NPs compared to molecular fluorophores, labels and probes, the article assesses the kinds and specific features of nanomaterials often used in bioimaging. These include fluorescently doped silicas and sol-gels, hydrophilic polymers (hydrogels), hydrophobic organic polymers, semiconducting polymer dots, quantum dots, carbon dots, other carbonaceous nanomaterials, upconversion NPs, noble metal NPs (mainly gold and silver), various other nanomaterials, and dendrimers. Another section covers coatings and methods for surface modification of NPs. Specific examples on the use of nanoparticles in (a) plain fluorescence imaging of cells, (b) targeted imaging, (c) imaging of chemical species, and (d) imaging of temperature are given next. A final section covers aspects of multimodal imaging (such as fluorescence/nmr), imaging combined with drug and gene delivery, or imaging combined with therapy or diagnosis. The electronic supplementary information (ESI) gives specific examples for materials and methods used in imaging, sensing, multimodal imaging and theranostics such as imaging combined with drug delivery or photodynamic therapy. The article contains 273 references in the main part, and 157 references in the ESI.

Efficient Subcellular Targeting to the Cell Nucleus of Quantum Dots Densely Decorated with a Nuclear Localization Sequence Peptide

Organelle-targeted drug delivery can enhance the efficiency of the intracellularly acting drugs and reduce their toxicity. We generated core-shell type CdSe-ZnS quantum dots (QDs) densely decorated with NLS peptidic targeting residues using a 3-stage decoration approach and investigated their endocytosis and nuclear targeting efficiencies. The diameter of the generated QDs increased following the individual decoration stages (16.3, 18.9, and 21.9 nm), the ζ-potential became less negative (-33.2, -17.5, and -11.9 mV), and characteristic changes appeared in the FTIR spectra following decoration with the linker and NLS peptides. Quantitative analysis of the last decoration stage revealed that 37.9% and 33.2% of the alkyne-modified NLS groups that were added to the reaction mix became covalently attached or adsorbed to the QDs surface, respectively. These numbers correspond to 63.6 and 55.7 peptides conjugated or adsorbed to a single QD (the surface density of 42 and 37 conjugated and adsorbed peptides per 1000 nm(2) of the QDs surface), which is higher than in the majority of previous studies that reported decoration efficiencies of formulations intended for nuclear-targeted drug delivery. QDs decorated with NLS peptides undergo more efficient endocytosis, as compared to other investigated QDs formulations, and accumulated to a higher extent in the cell nucleus or in close vicinity to it (11.9%, 14.6%, and 56.1% of the QDs endocytosed by an average cell for the QD-COOH, QD-azide, and QD-NLS formulations, respectively). We conclude that dense decoration of QDs with NLS residues increased their endocytosis and led to their nuclear targeting (preferential accumulation in the cells nuclei or in close vicinity to them). The experimental system and research tools that were used in this study allow quantitative investigation of the mechanisms that govern the QDs nuclear targeting and their dependence on the formulation properties. These findings will contribute to the development of subcellularly targeted DDSs that will deliver specific drugs to the nuclei of the target cells and will enhance efficacy and reduce toxicity of these drugs.

Red-Tuned Mn d-d Emission in Doped Semiconductor Nanocrystals

Light-emitting Mn-doped semiconductor nanocrystals have been extensively studied for the last three decades for their intense and stable Mn d-d emission. In principle, this emission should be fixed at 585 nm (yellow), but recent studies have shown that the emission can be widely tuned even to 650 nm (red). This is a spectacular achievement as this would make Mn-doped nanocrystals efficient and tunable light emitters. Keeping these developments in view, the chemistry of the synthesis of these materials, their photophysical processes and the expected origins of their red emission are summarized in this Minireview. All the related important studies from 1992 onwards are chronologically discussed, and one particular case is elaborated on in detail. As these materials are potentially important for biology, and photovoltaic, sensing and light-emitting devices, this Minireview is expected to help researchers investigating the chemistry, physics and applications of these materials.

Multi-modal imaging of HeLa cells using a luminescent ZnS:Mn/NaGdF4:Yb:Er nanocomposite with enhanced upconversion red emission

ZnS:Mn/NaGdF₄:Yb:Er nanocomposite was synthesized using a single-step hot injection method and then applied in the downconversion and upconversion optical imaging of living HeLa cells.

Synergism at the Nanoscale

Photoactive nanoparticles are smart systems that exhibit unique optical properties. In general, their intrinsic properties are size dependent. The degree and type of response to size are both related to their composition. Nanoparticles usually require to be capped with organic ligands in order to be dispersible in an aqueous or organic media, thus leading to nanoparticle colloidal dispersions and enhancing the processability of the material. The organic ligand also plays a key role in their preparation. In addition, the high surface-to-volume ratio of the nanoparticles combined with the affinity of the ligands for the nanoparticle surface can be used to place a large number of functional molecules at their periphery. The purpose of this chapter is to understand the synergism between nanoparticles and organic ligands with regard to their preparation, performance, and applicability.

Dually enriched Cu:CdS@ZnS QDs with both polyvinylpyrrolidone twisting and SiO2 loading for improved cell imaging

Through harvesting of the increased Stokes shift of CdS QDs via Cu-doping, the concentration-quenching or aggregation-quenching of CdS QDs was largely alleviated. A dually-enriched strategy with both polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) twisting and SiO2 loading was developed for generating a highly luminescent doped-dots (d-dots) assembly for improved cell imaging.

Clathrin to Lipid Raft-Endocytosis via Controlled Surface Chemistry and Efficient Perinuclear Targeting of Nanoparticle

Nanoparticle interacts with live cells depending on their surface chemistry, enters into cell via endocytosis, and is commonly trafficked to an endosome/lysozome that restricts subcellular targeting options. Here we show that nanoparticle surface chemistry can be tuned to alter their cell uptake mechanism and subcellular trafficking. Quantum dot based nanoprobes of 20-30 nm hydrodynamic diameters have been synthesized with tunable surface charge (between +15 mV to -25 mV) and lipophilicity to influence their cellular uptake processes and subcellular trafficking. It is observed that cationic nanoprobe electrostatically interacts with cell membrane and enters into cell via clathrin-mediated endocytosis. At lower surface charge (between +10 mV to -10 mV), the electrostatic interaction with cell membrane becomes weaker, and additional lipid raft endocytosis is initiated. If a lipophilic functional group is introduced on a weakly anionic nanoparticle surface, the uptake mechanism shifts to predominant lipid raft-mediated endocytosis. In particular, the zwitterionic-lipophilic nanoprobe has the unique advantage as it weakly interacts with anionic cell membrane, migrates toward lipid rafts for interaction through lipophilic functional group, and induces lipid raft-mediated endocytosis. While predominate or partial clathrin-mediated entry traffics most of the nanoprobes to lysozome, predominate lipid raft-mediated entry traffics them to perinuclear region, particularly to the Golgi apparatus. This finding would guide in designing appropriate nanoprobe for subcellular targeting and delivery.

Low-toxic Mn-doped ZnSe@ZnS quantum dots conjugated with nano-hydroxyapatite for cell imaging

Fluorescent bio-imaging has received significant attention in a myriad of research disciplines, and QDs are playing an increasingly important role in these areas. Doped QDs, an important alternative to conventional heavy metal-containing QDs are employed for biomedical applications. However, since QDs are exogenous substances to the biological environment, the biocompatibility of QDs is expected to be challenging in some cases. Herein, nano fluorine-doped hydroxyapatite (FAp, a well-known biocompatible material) was introduced to endow biocompatibility to Cd-free Mn-doped ZnSe@ZnS QDs. Thus, a nano-FAp-QD conjugate was developed and the biocompatibility, as well as potential cell imaging application, was investigated. To construct the proposed conjugate, Cd-free highly luminescent Mn-doped ZnSe@ZnS QDs and monodispersed nano-FAp were first prepared in high-temperature organic media. For facilitating the conjugation, hydrophobic nano-FAp was made water soluble via o-phosphoethanolamine (PEA) coating, which further provides conjugating sites for QDs to anchor. Cytotoxicity studies indicated the developed conjugate indeed possesses good compatibility and low toxicity to cells. The nano-FAp-QDs conjugate was successfully employed for cancer cell staining for at least 24 h, demonstrating the potential usefulness of this material in future biomedical research.

Efficient white light emitting diodes based on Cu-doped ZnInS/ZnS core/shell quantum dots

We report the fabrication of efficient white light-emitting diodes (WLEDs) based on Cu : ZnInS/ZnS core/shell quantum dots (QDs) with super large Stokes shifts. The composition-controllable Cu : ZnInS/ZnS QDs with a tunable emission from deep red to green were prepared by a one-pot noninjection synthetic approach. The high performance Cu : ZnInS QD-WLEDs with the colour rendering index up to 96, luminous efficacy of 70-78 lm W(-1), and colour temperature of 3800-5760 K were successfully fabricated by integration of red and green Cu-doped QDs. Negligible energy transfer between Cu-doped QDs was clearly found by measuring the photoluminescence lifetimes of the QDs, consistent with the small spectral overlap between QD emission and absorption. The experimental results indicated low toxic Cu : ZnInS/ZnS QDs could be suitable for solid state lighting.

Supramolecular self-assembly of three-dimensional polyaniline and polypyrrole crystals

Herein, we first report a novel approach for preparing 3D π-π stacked crystals of polyaniline and polypyrrole and show how they self-assemble in a suitable solution environment. 3D crystals of polyaniline and polypyrrole show high charge-transport properties of 130 S cm(-1) and 150 S cm(-1), respectively. Remarkably, the 3D crystals of polyaniline obtain excellent anisotropic conductivity.

Highly efficient electrogenerated chemiluminescence quenching of PEI enhanced Ru(bpy)₃²⁺ nanocomposite by hemin and Au@CeO₂ nanoparticles

In this work, a new signal amplified strategy based on the quenching effect of hemin and Au nanoparticles decorated CeO2 nanoparticles (Au@CeO2 NPs) for ultrasensitive detection of thrombin (TB) is reported for the first time. Herein, the poly(ethylenimine) (PEI) enhanced Ru(bpy)3(2+) nanocomposite was implemented by direct chemical polymerization, which could provide the desirable enhanced initial ECL signal. Furthermore, the detection aptamer of thrombin (TBA 2) was immobilized on Au@CeO2 NPs to form TBA 2/Au@CeO2 conjugates. Then, the G-rich DNA of TBA 2 sequence could fold into a G-quadruplex structure to embed hemin to obtain the quenching probe of hemin/TBA 2/Au@CeO2 conjugates. In the presence of target TB, the sandwiched structure could be formed between capture aptamer (TBA 1), TB and hemin/TBA 2/Au@CeO2 conjugates, thereby resulting in a proportional quenching in ECL response with TB, due to the quenching of both hemin and Au@CeO2 NPs. As a result, the signal-off aptasensor showed a wider linear range response from 10(-13) to 10(-8) M with lower detection limit of 0.03 pM.

Vitamin B1 derived blue and green fluorescent carbon nanoparticles for cell-imaging application

A carbon-based fluorescent nanoparticle is considered to be a new generation nontoxic nanoprobe suitable for various bioimaging and sensing applications. However, the synthesis of such a high-quality nanoparticle is challenging, and its application potential is mostly unexplored. Here we report a vitamin B1 carbonization-based approach for blue and green fluorescent carbon nanoparticles of <10 nm size with a fluorescence quantum of up to 76%. We found that carbonization of vitamin B1 in the presence of phosphate salt at ∼90-130 °C for about 2 h produces highly fluorescent carbon nanoparticles of 1-6 nm size. The particle size and fluorescence property can be controlled by varying the reaction temperature and nature of phosphate salt. Elemental analysis shows the incorporation of a large percentage (up to 48 wt %) of other elements (such as nitrogen, oxygen, phophorus, and sulfur) in the carbon matrix. The chemical structure of vitamin B1 (thiamine) is unique in a sense that it consists of a large number of heteroatoms along with unsaturated bonds and offers low-temperature carbonization with the formation of a nanoparticle having an optimum ratio of sp(2) and sp(3) carbon atoms. These carbon nanoparticles have high colloidal stability and stable fluorescence and have been used as fluorescent imaging probes.

Highly colloidally stable hyperbranched polyglycerol grafted red fluorescent silicon nanoparticle as bioimaging probe

Here we report a surface modification approach for fluorescent silicon nanoparticle that transforms hydrophobic nanoparticle into water-soluble nanoparticle of high colloidal stability. The approach involves ring-opening polymerization of glycidol at the hydroxyl-terminated nanoparticle surface that results in a hyperbranched polyglycerol grafted silicon nanoparticle (Si-HPG). The resultant Si-HPG has 25 nm hydrodynamic diameter, low surface charge, and broad emission in the range of 450-700 nm with a fluorescence quantum yield of 6-9%. The Si-HPG has been transformed into cyclic RGD peptide functionalized nanoprobe using the conventional bioconjugation chemistry and used for specific targeting to αvβ3 integrin overexpressed cervical cancer cells and glioblastoma cells. Result shows that a silicon nanoparticle-based red fluorescent nanoprobe can be developed for in vitro/in vivo bioimaging applications.

Thermal stability of Mn2+ ion luminescence in Mn-doped core-shell quantum dots

The thermal stability of luminescence is important for the application of quantum dots (QDs) in light-emitting devices. The temperature-dependent photoluminescence (PL) intensities and decay times of Mn-doped ZnS, ZnSe, and ZnSeS alloyed core-shell QD films were studied in the temperature range from 80 to 500 K by steady-state and time-resolved PL spectroscopy. It was found that the thermal stability of Mn-doped QD emissions was significantly dependent on the shell thickness and the host bandgap, which was higher than that of workhorse CdSe QDs. Nearly no PL quenching took place in Mn:ZnS QDs with a thick ZnS shell, which kept a high PL quantum yield (QY) of ~50% even at 500 K; and the thermally stable PL was also observed in highly luminescent Mn:ZnSe and Mn:ZnSeS QDs with a quenching temperature over 200 °C. Further, the stability of Mn-doped QDs with different shell thickness at high temperature was also examined through heating-cooling cycling experiments. The PL quenching in the thick shell-coated Mn-doped QDs was almost totally recovered. The PL quenching mechanisms of the Mn(2+) ion emissions were discussed.

Colloidal silicon quantum dots: from preparation to the modification of self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) for bio-applications

Summarizes recent advances in the preparation, surface modification and bio-applications of silicon quantum dots.

Gold nanoclusters with enhanced tunable fluorescence as bioimaging probes

Development of unique bioimaging probes offering essential information's about bio environments are an important step forward in biomedical science. Nanotechnology offers variety of novel imaging nanoprobes having high-photo stability as compared to conventional molecular probes which often experience rapid photo bleaching problem. Although great advances have been made on the development of semiconductor nanocrystals-based fluorescent imaging probes, potential toxicity issue by heavy metal component limits their in vivo therapeutic and clinical application. Recent works show that fluorescent gold clusters (FGCs) can be a promising nontoxic alternative of semiconductor nanocrystals. FGCs derived imaging nanoprobes offer stable and tunable visible emission, small hydrodynamic size, high biocompatibility and have been exploited in variety in vitro and in vivo imaging applications. In this review, we will focus on the synthetic advances and bioimaging application potentials of FGCs. In particular, we will emphasize on functional FGCs that are bright and stable enough to be useful as bioimaging probes.