Mechanistic studies of emissive lanthanide complexes for bioactive applications

发光分子可以以非常高的灵敏度被检测到，甚至可以检测到单个分子，并在化学和生命科学的许多研究中继续取代放射性标记。这些荧光物质的设计应该是化学稳定的，并且必须抵抗猝灭或抑制其荧光的过程。他们还必须能够定位到想要的目标，并向观察者发送信息，指示他们在哪里。此外，还需要新的系统来发射寿命更长的荧光信号，该信号携带有关当地环境性质的信息。例如，这些响应性探针可以发射2到3个不同波长的光，而这些波长上发射的光的相对强度表明了选定生物活性物种的局部浓度。这项工作旨在了解如何阻止具有长寿命发射的精心设计的稀土金属络合物的光发射猝灭。有了高效的发光复合体，这些复合体将被检测其在活细胞内的定位能力。这可以使用荧光显微镜进行监测，并将寻找不仅可以找到细胞的特定部分(例如细胞核)的复合体，而且还可以在其荧光信号中提供编码信息，告诉观察者该环境的局部化学成分，以及它可能如何随时间和外部扰动而变化。最终，鉴于这些荧光探针在化学性质上与用作磁共振成像造影剂的相关化合物的相似性，它们可能会在体内用于光学成像或光学断层成像。

Luminescent molecules can be detected with very high sensitivity, down to levels of detecting single molecules, and continue to replace radioactive labels in many studies in chemistry and the life sciences. These fluorescent entities should be designed to be chemically stable and must resist processes which quench or suppress their fluorescence. They must also be able to localise at the desired target and send information to the observer that signals where they are. addition, new systems are required which emit a longer-lived fluorescent signal which carries information about the nature of the local environment. These responsive probes, may for example, emit light at 2 or three different wavelengths, and the relative intensity of the emitted light at these wavelengths is indicative of the local concentration of selected bioactive species. work sets out to understand how to stop the quenching of the light-emission from carefully engineered complexes of rare earth metals that possess long-lived emission. With highly efficient luminescent complexes to hand, the complexes will be examined for their ability to localise inside living cells. This can be monitored using fluorescence microscopy and complexes will be sought that can not only seek out particular parts of the cell (e.g. the cell nucleus), but can also give encoded information in their fluorescence signal that tells the observer about the local chemical composition of that environment, and how it may change with time and by external perturbation. Ultimately, given the similarity in the chemical nature of these fluorescent probes to related compounds used as contrast agents in Magnetic Resonance Imaging, they may used in vivo, for Optical Imaging or Optical Tomography.