The Application of Inorganic Optical Nanoprobes in Bacterial Infection

Bacterial infection is an acute infection caused by pathogens or conditional pathogens, which leads to severe disease and even death. It has become a significant reason for diseases and deaths worldwide. Therefore, rapid and precise detection, diagnosis, and treatment in the early stage are the key to deal with bacterial infections. Over recent years, along with the advances in biomaterials and nanotechnology, numerous nanomaterial-based multifunctional probes have been extensively explored in the biomedical field. Because of their excellent optical properties, inorganic optical nanoprobes are used to rapidly detect bacterial infection in the early stage and show excellent antibacterial properties, which has a great application prospect in antibacterial therapy expected to reduce the risk of bacterial infection. In this mini-review, we generally overviewed and summarized recent progress on inorganic nanoparticle-based optical imaging techniques as a platform to construct functional theranostics for the efficient treatment of bacterial infections. The opportunities and challenges in the application of fluorescent optical nanoprobes are prospected.

Luminescent Yb3+,Er3+-Doped α-La(IO3)3 Nanocrystals for Neuronal Network Bio-Imaging and Nanothermometry

Dual-light emitting Yb3+,Er3+-codoped α-La(IO3)3 nanocrystals, known to exhibit both second harmonic signal and photoluminescence (PL), are evaluated as optical nanoprobes and thermal sensors using both conventional microscopes and a more sophisticated micro-PL setup. When loaded in cortical and hippocampal neurons for a few hours at a concentration of 0.01 mg/mL, a visible PL signal arising from the nanocrystals can be clearly detected using an epifluorescent conventional microscope, enabling to localize the nanocrystals along the stained neurons and to record PL variation with temperature of 0.5% K−1. No signal of cytotoxicity, associated with the presence of nanocrystals, is observed during the few hours of the experiment. Alternatively, a micro-PL setup can be used to discriminate the different PL lines. From ratiometric PL measurements, a relative thermal sensitivity of 1.2% K−1 was measured.

Catalytical feature from optical nanoprobes of boron nitride quantum dots in the presence of Cu2+ for the determination of dopamine

Monitoring dopamine (DA) concentration is vital for preventing and diagnosing DA related diseases. In contrast with the traditional sensing principle of DA, where direct or indirect influence on the optical...

Carbon Dots for Forensic Applications: A Critical Review

Owing to their superior fluorescence performance, inexpensive synthesis and nontoxic nature, carbon dots (C-dots) are systematically explored in a variety of applications; in this review, we outline and critically discuss recent trends with respect to their potential exploitation in criminal investigation, forensic toxicology and anti-counterfeit interventions. Capitalising on their colour-tuneable behaviour (in the sense that they adopt different colours with respect to the incident radiation), C-dot-based compositions are ideal for the visual enhancement of latent fingerprints, affording improved contrast against multicoloured and patterned backgrounds. As highly sensitive and highly selective optical nanoprobes, C-dots show excellent analytical performance in detecting biological compounds, drugs, explosives, heavy metals and poisonous reactants. In addition, benefiting from their versatile structural and chemical composition, C-dots can be incorporated into ink and polymeric formulations capable of functioning as a new generation of cost-effective barcodes and security nanotags for object authentication and anti-counterfeit applications. Translating these encouraging research outcomes into real-life innovations with significant social and economic impact requires an open, multidisciplinary approach and a close synergy between materials scientists, biologists, forensic investigators and digital engineers.

Optical nanoprobes for chiral discrimination

Chiral recognition can be achieved by exploiting chiral properties of nanoparticles within various colorimetric and luminescent sensing systems.

Facile synthesis of boronic acid-decorated carbon nanodots as optical nanoprobes for glycoprotein sensing

Synthesis-modification-doping-integration: one-step synthesis of boronic acid-decorated carbon nanodots for glycoprotein sensing.