Nanotechnology for multimodal imaging

A novel bi-modal probe based on BaHoF5 and Cu-doped QDs with enhanced CT contrast efficiency and fluorescent brightness for tumor-targeting imaging

In this work, a novel bi-modal imaging probe with enhanced CT contrast efficiency and FL brightness was constructed, in which the combination of a binary CT contrast agent BaHoF₅ and Cu-doped QDs served as a vehicle; hyaluronic acid (HA) was employed as a tumor-targeting ligand. With its CT contrast efficiency about 2.1- and 3.9-fold higher than PEG-BaHoF₅ and Iohexol, the CT contrast efficiency and the fluorescent brightness of the bi-modal probe were both enhanced. Likewise, its fluorescent brightness is almost 6-fold brighter after Cu-doped QDs loading. The most important contribution of this work lies on the proposed strategy. The inherent contradiction of the imaging sensitivity of CT and FL imaging is well balanced and a great CT/FL bi-modal imaging performance is simultaneously obtained even at low concentration (400 μg/mL) of the probe, which was superior to the previous CT/FL bi-modal probes. Moreover, since BaHoF₅ as a binary CT contrast agent was introduced instead of conventional Au and Bi₂S₃, the CT/FL bi-modal probe would be more suitable for different patients under different operation voltages. In addition, the in vitro tumor cell imaging also demonstrated a good photo-stability, FL brightness, and tumor-targeting capability of the probe, indicating its great potential in practical bi-modal imaging for further tumor diagnosis and therapy. Graphical abstract A novel bi-modal imaging probe with enhanced CT contrast efficiency and FL brightness was fabricated, in which its CT contrast efficiency was about 2.1- and 3.9-fold higher than PEG-BaHoF₅ and Iohexol, respectively, and its fluorescent brightness almost 6-fold brighter after Cu-doped QDs loading.

Quantum dots for fluorescent biosensing and bio-imaging applications

Quantum dots (QDs) have been facilitating the development of sensitive fluorescence biosensors over the past two decades due to their high quantum yield, narrow and tunable emission spectrum and good photostability. The new emerging QDs with improved biocompatibility further promote their biological applications. In this review, we first briefly introduce the prevalently used QDs and their preparation and bioconjugation approaches. Then we summarize QDs-based fluorescent biosensing for proteins and nucleic acids, and QDs-based applications in cellular and in vivo targeting and imaging. Last but not the least, we envision the potential QDs-based applications in future perspectives.