Near Infrared Emitting Semiconductor Polymer Dots for Bioimaging and Sensing

Date

2022-09-23

Department

Program

Citation of Original Publication

Riahin, Connor, Kushani Mendis, Brandon Busick, Marcin Ptaszek, Mengran Yang, Gary Stacey, Amar Parvate, et al. “Near Infrared Emitting Semiconductor Polymer Dots for Bioimaging and Sensing.” Sensors 22, no. 19 (January 2022): 7218. https://doi.org/10.3390/s22197218.

Rights

This work was written as part of one of the author's official duties as an Employee of the United States Government and is therefore a work of the United States Government. In accordance with 17 U.S.C. 105, no copyright protection is available for such works under U.S. Law.
Public Domain

Abstract

Semiconducting polymer dots (Pdots) are rapidly becoming one of the most studied nanoparticles in fluorescence bioimaging and sensing. Their small size, high brightness, and resistance to photobleaching make them one of the most attractive fluorophores for fluorescence imaging and sensing applications. This paper highlights our recent advances in fluorescence bioimaging and sensing with nanoscale luminescent Pdots, specifically the use of organic dyes as dopant molecules to modify the optical properties of Pdots to enable deep red and near infrared fluorescence bioimaging applications and to impart sensitivity of dye doped Pdots towards selected analytes. Building on our earlier work, we report the formation of secondary antibody-conjugated Pdots and provide Cryo-TEM evidence for their formation. We demonstrate the selective targeting of the antibody-conjugated Pdots to FLAG-tagged FLS2 membrane receptors in genetically engineered plant leaf cells. We also report the formation of a new class of luminescent Pdots with emission wavelengths of around 1000 nm. Finally, we demonstrate the formation and utility of oxygen sensing Pdots in aqueous media.