Time-Resolved Emission Imaging Microscopy with long-lived Pt(II) complexes: a new approach to autofluorescence-free imaging of tissues

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The problems of background autofluorescence are considerable and widespread in many avenues of complex cell and tissue research. This includes a diverse range of endpoints where fluorescence imaging is an absolute requirement, and examples include clinical diagnostics, medical research and the fundamental study of cell and tissue biology. Our short proposal aims to solve these problems by use of a technique called time-resolved emission imaging (TREM) - a method realised by us in 2008. The potential value of TREM has only just become a practical reality due to the recent development of very stable and long-lived Pt(II) luminescent complexes (also developed by us). However, the true exploitable value of these molecules is one of versatility by conjugation to selective high affinity antibodies for the multitude of possible immunolabelling targets. This will have a major technical advantage for imaging complex tissues traditionally hampered by autofluorescence, by enabling proteins and cells to be resolved in isolation without fluorescent interference that would otherwise prevent detailed imaging.