CdTe量子点与罗丹明B水溶液体系下的双光子激发荧光共振能量转移

采用时间分辨荧光光谱技术研究了在双光子激发下不同尺寸的量子点与罗丹明B 之间的荧光共振能量转移. 研究结果表明, 在800 nm的双光子激发条件下, 体系间能量转移效率随着供体吸收光谱与受体荧光光谱的光谱重叠程度增加而增加; 理论分析表明, 供体和受体间的Förster半径增加是导致其双光子能量转移效率增大的物理原因. 同时, 研究了罗丹明B浓度对荧光共振能量转移效率的影响. 研究结果表明, 量子点的荧光寿命随着罗丹明B浓度的增加而减小; 量子点与罗丹明B之间的荧光共振能量转移效率随着罗丹明B浓度的增加而增加; 当罗丹明B浓度为3.0×10^-5 mol·L^-1时, 双光子荧光共振能量转移效率为40.1%.     

Photobleaching-Based Quantitative Analysis of Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer inside Single Living Cell

The current advances of fluorescence microscopy and new fluorescent probes make fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) a powerful technique for studying protein-protein interactions inside living cells. It is very hard to quantitatively analyze FRET efficiency using intensity-based FRET imaging microscopy due to the presence of autofluorescence and spectral crosstalks. In this study, we for the first time developed a novel photobleaching-based method to quantitatively detect FRET efficiency (Pb-FRET) by selectively photobleaching acceptor. The Pb-FRET method requires two fluorescence detection channels: a donor channel (CH ₁ ) to selectively detect the fluorescence from donor, and a FRET channel (CH ₂ ) which normally includes the fluorescence from both acceptor and donor due to emission spectral crosstalk. We used the Pb-FRET method to quantitatively measure the FRET efficiency of SCAT3, a caspase-3 indicator based on FRET, inside single living cells stably expressing SCAT3 during STS-induced apoptosis. At 0, 6 and 12 h after STS treatment, the FRET efficiency of SCAT3 obtained by Pb-FRET inside living cells was verified by two-photon excitation (TPE) fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM). The temporal resolution of Pb-FRET method is in second time-scale for ROI photobleaching, even in microsecond time-scale for spot photobleaching. Our results demonstrate that the Pb-FRET method is independent of photobleaching degree, and is very useful for quantitatively monitoring protein-protein interactions inside single living cell.     

Fluorescent polystyrene microspheres with large Stokes shift by fluorescence resonance energy transfer

We prepared fluorescent microspheres with notably large Stokes shift and long-wavelength fluorescence by applying fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) between two common julolidine dyes. Short distance between dye molecules caused by high dye concentration results in efficient FRET in microspheres. However, adequate dye concentration and moderate molar ratio of the donor and acceptor should be chosen to avoid aggregation of dye molecules, which leads to the decrease of fluorescent intensity. Microrspheres with average distance between dye molecules of 1.94 nm and molar ratio of 3.08:1 realize highly efficient FRET with no fluorescence of donor and intense long-wavelength emission of acceptor. In addition, the applied solvent evaporation method for preparing microspheres provided better protection of dyes from ambient medium than traditional surface-labeled method. These results demonstrate the feasibility of applying FRET in microspheres to expand useful fluorescent probes, and reveal their potential application in bioassays field.     

Single-Pair Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer (spFRET) for the High Sensitivity Analysis of Low-Abundance Proteins Using Aptamers as Molecular Recognition Elements

We have developed a strategy for the detection of single protein molecules, which uses single-pair fluorescence resonance energy transfer (spFRET) as the readout modality and provides exquisite analytical sensitivity and reduced assay turn-around-time by eliminating various sample pre-processing steps. The single-protein detection assay uses two independent aptamer recognition events to form an assembly conducive to intramolecular hybridization of oligonucleotide complements that are tethered to the aptamers. This hybridization brings a donor-acceptor pair within the Förster distance to create a fluorescence signature indicative of the presence of the protein-aptamer(s) association complex. As an example of spFRET, we demonstrate the technique for the analysis of serum thrombin. The assay requires co-association of two distinct epitope-binding aptamers, each of which is labeled with a donor or acceptor fluorescent dye (Cy3 or Cy5, respectively) to produce a FRET response. The FRET response between Cy3 and Cy5 was monitored by single-molecule photon-burst detection, which provides high analytical sensitivity when the number of single-molecule events is plotted versus the target concentration. We are able to identify thrombin with high efficiency based on photon burst events transduced in the Cy5 detection channel. We also demonstrate that the technique can discriminate thrombin molecules from its analogue prothrombin. The analytical sensitivity was >200-fold better than an ensemble measurement.     

A New Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer Pair and Its Application to Oligonucleotide Labeling and Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer Hybridization Studies

We describe two new fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) compatible labels, their covalent linkage to oligonucleotides, and their use as donor and acceptor, respectively, in FRET hybridization studies. The dyes belong to the cyanine dyes, and water solubility is imparted by a phosphonate which represents a new solubilizing group in DNA labels. They were linked to amino-modified synthetic oligonucleotides via oxysuccinimide (OSI) esters. The studies performed include binding assays, determinations of molecular distances, homogeneous competitive assays, and limits of detection, which are in the order of 5 pmol/L for a 15-mer.     

FRET Studies of the Interaction of Dimeric Cyanine Dyes with DNA

Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) is a powerful tool to determine distances between chromophores bound to macromolecules, since the efficiency of the energy transfer from an initially excited donor to an acceptor strongly depends on the distance between the two dye molecules. The structure of the noncovalent complex of double-strand DNA (dsDNA) with thiazol orange dimers (TOTO) allows FRET analysis of two intercalated chromophores. By intercalation of two different TOTO dyes we observe an energy transfer from TOTO-1 as donor and TOTO-3 as acceptor. In this manner we are able to determine the mean distance between two proximate TOTO molecules bound to dsDNA. Thus the maximum number of binding positions for this type of intercalation dyes in the dsDNA can be obtained. Furthermore the dependency of the acceptor emission on the donor concentration is analysed. The emission of TOTO-3 reaches a maximum when the acceptor-to-donor ratio is 1:10.     

Quantitative analysis of caspase-3 activation by fitting fluorescence emission spectra in living cells

Confocal fluorescence imaging and fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) technology have been widely used to study protein–protein interactions in living cells. However, it is very difficult to quantitatively analyze FRET efficiency due to the excitation spectral crosstalk and emission spectral crosstalk between donor and acceptor. In this study, we developed a novel method to quantitatively obtain the FRET efficiency by fitting the emission spectra (FES) of donor–acceptor pair, and this method is free from both excitation and emission spectral crosstalk. We used the FES method to quantitatively monitor the FRET efficiency of SCAT3, a caspase-3 indicator based on FRET, inside living cells stably expressing SCAT3 during STS-induced apoptosis. At 0, 6 and 12 h after STS treatment, the FRET efficiency of SCAT3 obtained by FES are consistent with that by two-photon excitation (TPE) fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) in living cells stably expressing SCAT3. In this study, the FES was also used to analyze the caspase-3 activation in living cells during anti-cancer drug such as taxol, Artesunate (ART) or Dihydroartemisinin (DHA) treatment. Our results showed that ART or DHA induced apoptosis by a caspase-3-dependent manner, while caspase-3 was not involved in taxol-induced cell death.     

A Feasible Add-On Upgrade on a Commercial Two-Photon FLIM Microscope for Optimal FLIM-FRET Imaging of CFP-YFP Pairs

Fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) based on time-correlated single photon counting (TCSPC) is a widely used method for fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET). Here we report a feasible add-on approach to upgrade a commercial two-photon FLIM microscope into a single-photon FLIM microscope which provides optimal FLIM-FRET imaging of FRET pairs consisting of cyan fluorescent proteins (CFPs) as the donor and yellow fluorescent proteins (YFPs) as the acceptor. The capability of the upgraded system is evaluated and discussed, and the imaging performance of the system is demonstrated using FLIM-FRET experiments with a representative CFP-YFP FRET pair (mCerulean-mCitrine).     

Saturated Förster resonance energy transfer microscopy with a stimulated emission depletion beam: a pathway toward single-molecule resolution in far-field bioimaging

We theoretically demonstrate that the spatial resolution of stimulated emission depletion (STED) microscopy can be substantially enhanced without increasing the intensity of the STED beam. In our scheme, tiny nanobeads codoped with donor and acceptor molecules are used as fluorescent probes, in which F?rster resonance energy transfer (FRET) can occur with an ~100% efficiency between the donors and acceptors. Enhancement of the depletion of acceptors in the nanobeads with the doughnut-shaped depletion beam can lead to an increase of FRET efficiency in the outer area of the excitation spot, which itself is used for deexciting donor molecules and, consequently, enhancing the optical resolution.     

Microspectroscopic Study of Liposome-to-cell Interaction Revealed by Förster Resonance Energy Transfer

We report the Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET)-labeling of liposomal vesicles as an effective approach to study in dynamics the interaction of liposomes with living cells of different types (rat hepatocytes, rat bone marrow, mouse fibroblast-like cells and human breast cancer cells) and cell organelles (hepatocyte nuclei). The in vitro experiments were performed using fluorescent microspectroscopic technique. Two fluorescent dyes (DiO as the energy donor and DiI as an acceptor) were preloaded in lipid bilayers of phosphatidylcholine liposomes that ensures the necessary distance between the dyes for effective FRET. The change in time of the donor and acceptor relative fluorescence intensities was used to visualize and trace the liposome-to-cell interaction. We show that FRET-labeling of liposome vesicles allows one to reveal the differences in efficiency and dynamics of these interactions, which are associated with composition, fluidity, and metabolic activity of cell plasma membranes.     

Improvements in the Sensitivity of Time Resolved Fluorescence Energy Transfer Assays

The effect on fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) of multiple labelling of DNA oligonucleotides with donor lanthanide chelate and acceptor CyDye fluors has been investigated. It is shown that using a multiple donor lanthanide chelate with a single acceptor Cy or Cy5 can increase sensitivity and fluorescence output. The enhanced FRET observed in the multiple donor label system has been utilised in two different DNA based assay formats to demonstrate the advantages over a steady state fluorescence assay and a radiometric assay.     

Fluorescence Study of DNA–Dye Complexes Using One-Photon and Two-Photon Picosecond Excitation

Preliminary results of investigation of one-photon- and two-photon-induced fluorescence of acridine orange (AO), epirubicin (ER), hypericin (HYP), and ethidium bromide (EB) in complexes with DNA are presented. A spectrofluorometer based on a picosecond Nd:YAG laser was used for investigations of two-photon (1064-nm, 1-mJ, 40-ps) and one-photon (532- and 355-nm) dye excitation. The spectra of two-photon-induced fluorescence of dyes and their complexes with DNA as well as the kinetics of dyes' fluorescence intensification during their interactions with DNA in dependence on the biomacromolecule concentration were obtained. The intensities of AO, HYP, and EB fluorescence were increased 2.4, 3.2, and 8 times, respectively, after binding with DNA at two-photon excitation, while at one-photon excitation the corresponding values were 2.5, 3.7, and 10 times. The difference in fluorescence enhancement during DNA–dye complex formation at linear and nonlinear excitation may possibly be associated with the fact that the cross sections of one-photon and two-photon absorption, in general, change unequally during the binding of dyes to organic molecules and bathocromic shift of the electronic transitions. It was shown that the peak of AO fluorescence shifted to a longer wavelength on 10 nm after two-photon excitation at 1064 nm in comparison with one-photon excitation at 532 nm.     

Nonlinear optical properties of stilbene and azobenzene derivatives containing azaphosphane groups

We have studied the nonlinear optical (NLO) properties of some donor–acceptor molecules with stilbene and azobenzene molecules as backbone. We have used the nitro group as the acceptor and azaphosphane (R₃P=N–) as the donor group. To study the effect of variation of NLO properties, we have replaced the substituents (Rs) connected to the phosphorus atom by methyl, amine and phenyl groups. We find that both first-order polarizability and hyperpolarizabilities are larger for stilbene derivatives and is maximum for the phenyl substitution. Second-order polarizability is higher for methyl substitution. We have also obtained the two-photon absorption cross-section for these molecules. We find that both one-photon and two-photon absorption cross-sections are maximum for the same excited state (first excited state in the case of stilbene and second excited state in the case of azobenzene derivatives).     

基于无标记荧光共振能量转移的microRNA检测方法研究

利用以阳离子共轭聚合物为能量供体的荧光共振能量转移(FRET)策略和滚环扩增放大技术,建立了一种新型的microRNA(miRNA)检测方法。阳离子共轭聚合物采用聚[(9,9-双(6’-N,N,N-三乙基铵)己基)亚芴基亚苯基二溴化物](PFP)。PFP是一种由大量吸光单元共轭而成的阳离子聚合物,具有独特的光捕获和荧光增强性能,可以和带有负电荷的DNA通过静电作用相互结合。SG是一种能够结合于所有双链DNA双螺旋小沟区域的染料,其在游离状态下,荧光微弱,但一旦与双链DNA结合后,荧光会大大的增强。首先,设计了一条可与目标分子特异性杂交的锁式探针和与RCA产物序列互补的DNA链。当体系中存在miRNA时,在T4 DNA连接酶作用下,锁式探针连接成环;随后,在phi29 DNA聚合酶和dNTPs共同作用下,在miRNA的3’端滚环扩增出一条与锁式探针序列互补的长单链DNA,所得产物与互补DNA链杂交形成双链DNA(dsDNA)。此时SG作为FRET受体掺入其中,形成SG-dsDNA共同体。随后, SG-dsDNA与PFP因静电相互作用而紧密接近,由于PFP的发射光谱与SG的激发光谱有重叠,因此二者之间可以发生FRET现象。反之,当体系中不存在miRNA时,挂锁探针则无法连接成环,阻止了扩增反应的进行及其产物与互补DNA链的杂交反应。加入SG后,由于SG与单链DNA的结合能力很弱, SG则游离于溶液中,不会与PFP发生有效的FRET。因此目标分子的浓度与体系的FRET效率直接相关。以let 7a作为待测miRNA分子,在0.05~5 nmol·L-1的范围内, let 7a的浓度与从反应体系测得的FRET效率(I520/I423)成正比。同时以无PFP参加的检测方案作为对比实验,证明了PFP确实具有提高灵敏度的作用。另外,以四种同族miRNA分子及两种其他miRNA分子作为干扰物质对方法的特异性进行了考察,发现除了两种与目标分子序列高度相似的物质存在干扰外,其他物质几乎不产生信号。利用该方法对细胞总RNA提取液中let 7a的含量及其加标含量进行了检测,测量所得回收率基本令人满意。所建立的方案不需要荧光标记探针,有效降低了检测成本,简化了操作步骤,在与miRNA相关的疾病诊断领域具有一定的应用前景。     

ZnS∶Cu-罗丹明B的荧光共振能量转移性质

为了解决现有的基于量子点荧光共振能量转移体系的生物毒性问题,选用无毒的ZnS∶Cu量子点与罗丹明B构建新型荧光共振能量转移体系。通过共沉淀法成功制备了形貌均一的ZnS∶Cu纳米晶量子点。在此基础上,测试了不同掺杂浓度的ZnS∶Cu量子点及罗丹明B的荧光光谱。然后,通过对ZnS∶Cu量子点的表面修饰构建了以ZnS∶Cu量子点为供体、罗丹明B为受体的荧光共振能量转移体系。实验结果表明:ZnS∶2%Cu量子点的发光光谱与罗丹明B的吸收光谱在481 nm处有较大重合,说明构建荧光共振能量转移的最佳铜掺杂摩尔分数为2%。通过计算发现以ZnS∶2%Cu量子点为供体、罗丹明B为受体的荧光共振能量转移体系的能量转移效率为25.8%。进一步实验结果表明,罗丹明B浓度也能够影响能量转移。     

Detection of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Bifidobacterium</Emphasis> Species-specific 16S rDNA Based on QD FRET Bioprobe

Fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) that consists of quantum dot as donors and organic fluorophore dyes as acceptors has been a very important method to detect biomolecules such as nucleic acids. In this work, we established a new FRET detection system of Bifidobacterium species-specific 16S rDNA using QD—ROX FRET bioprobe, in which 525 nm QD-DNA conjugation consisted of the carboxyl-modified QD and the amino-modified DNA in the presence of EDC. Both ROX-DNA and the conjugation above could hybridize with the target DNA after forming the QD—ROX bioprobe. When the hybridization made the distance between the QD and ROX to meet FRET effect needed, 525 nm QD fluorescence intensity decreased and ROX fluorescence intensity increased. In the control, there was no notable change of fluorescence intensities without target DNA. It is very clear that the change of the QD and ROX fluorescence intensities provide the good base and guaranty for this rapid and simple detection system.     

聚二甲基硅氧烷微流道中光流控荧光共振能量转移激光

将单一折射率的石英裸光纤植入由聚二甲基硅氧烷构成的基片微流道中,以低折射率的罗丹明B(RhB)和吡啶821(LDS821)乙醇溶液构成的供体和受体对作为激光增益介质.采用沿光纤轴向消逝波抽运方式,首先以波长为532nm的连续波激光器作为激励光,对荧光共振能量转移特性参数进行了研究.然后以波长为532nm的脉冲激光器作为抽运光,通过直接激励供体分子RhB,并将其能量转移给临近的受体分子LDS821,在不改变抽运光波长的条件下,实现了较低阈值(1.26μJ/mm~2)的受体LDS821激光辐射.     

Nonradiative and radiative Förster energy transfer between quantum dots

We theoretically study nonradiative and radiative energy transfer between two localized quantum emitters, a donor (initially excited) and an acceptor (receiving the excitation). The rates of nonradiative and radiative processes are calculated depending on the spatial and spectral separation between the donor and acceptor states and for different donor and acceptor lifetimes for typical parameters of semiconductor quantum dots. We find that the donor lifetime can be significantly modified only due to the nonradiative Förster energy transfer process at donor–acceptor separations of approximately 10 nm (depending on the acceptor radiative lifetime) and for the energy detuning not larger than 1–2 meV. The efficiency of the nonradiative Förster energy transfer process under these conditions is close to unity and decreases rapidly with an increase in the donor–acceptor distance or energy detuning. At large donor–acceptor separations greater than 40 nm, the radiative corrections to the donor lifetime are comparable with nonradiative ones but are relatively weak.     

Förster resonant energy transfer in quantum dot layers

Förster resonant energy transfer (FRET) in quantum dot (QD) layer structures has been analyzed. Small and large colloidal CdTe QDs were used as donors and acceptors, respectively. A FRET theory for random donor/acceptor distributions in two dimensions, taking into account exclusion zones around the donors, was applied to characterize FRET in a mixed monolayer. The exclusion zones provide a possibility to include the QD size in the FRET analysis and to determine its impact on the FRET efficiency. The acceptor concentration dependence of the FRET efficiency can also be described within this theory. In a separate donor/acceptor layer structure the distance dependence of the FRET efficiency as well as the acceptor enhancement was investigated. Both were found to agree well with the model of FRET between donor and acceptor layers.     

二苯乙烯衍生物分子双光子吸收截面：官能团对称性的影响

选取了具有不同对称性的二苯乙烯系列衍生物分子，在HF水平上，利用响应函数方法，研究了该系列分子的单光子和双光子特性. 研究结果表明，该系列分子具有较强的双光子特性. 在可见光范围内，反对称分子的最大双光子吸收态是第一激发态，而对称分子的最大双光子吸收出现在第四激发态. 相对于对称分子而言，反对称分子具有更大的双光子吸收截面. 因此，分子的对称性是否比不对称性更有利于增大分子的双光子吸收截面，还与分子的π中心部分的特性有关. 还给出了电荷转移态的电荷迁移过程. 关键词： 双光子吸收 响应函数方法 非线性光学