Tantalum Nitride Nanosheets for Photoacoustic Imaging-Guided Photothermal Cancer Therapy

In this study, the synthesis of TaN nanosheets and their application in theranostic agents is reported. After coating polyethylene glycol (PEG) on the TaN nanosheets, the as-synthesized PEG-modified TaN nanosheets (TaN-PEG) show good stability and biocompatibility. Because of their high absorbance in the near-IR region, TaN-PEG can be utilized as photoacoustic imaging contrast agents for tumor imaging. Moreover, TaN-PEG has significant photothermal conversion performance, exhibiting effective laser-induced tumor ablation capability. The TaN-PEG possessing excellent photoacoustic contrast effect and photothermal properties thus have great promise in theranostic applications, especially imaging-guided cancer treatment.     

电机驱动微装配在双光子制备微结构中的应用

对微结构的制作、微装配系统进行了研究. 采用飞秒激光双光子聚合微加工技术制作有底座、精细的三维立体“拱形”微结构, 其高250μm、长300μm、厚50μm. 将此微结构与实验室自主搭建的二维微装配平台相结合, 利用自主编程的人机交互界面驱动步进电机, 远程操控微装配设备; 将荧光闪烁陶瓷粉末装配到微结构中, 对装配后的微结构进行荧光光谱表征发现, 纯荧光粉末和微结构中的荧光粉末的发射光谱在测量误差范围内基本一致, 表明荧光粉末的光学性质未发生改变. 利用该装置可以将各类微纳米级材料和微结构进行装配, 形成含有不同材料的微结构系统.     

3.0T MRI检查结合X线钼靶诊断乳腺恶性肿瘤的研究

本研究探讨3.0T磁共振成像(MRI)结合X线钼靶诊断乳腺恶性肿瘤的价值。采用回顾性研究方法,选取乳腺肿块患者110例162个病灶,给予3.0T MRI及X线钼靶检查。经病理确诊为恶性病变101个;恶性病灶形态不规则、边缘毛刺、时间-信号强度曲线(TIC)类型Ⅲ型和早期增强率≥60%比例明显高于良性病灶(P<0.05),而分叶状比例和表观扩散系数(ADC)值明显低于良性病变(P<0.05);恶性病变X线钼靶表现:形态不规则、钙化、结构不对称和大导管征比例明显高于良性病变(P<0.05);MRI联合X线钼靶诊断乳腺恶性病变的灵敏性、准确性和阴性预测值明显高于MRI诊断(P<0.05)。3.0T MRI检查结合X线钼靶诊断乳腺恶性肿瘤有较好的价值。     

Versatile Near-Infrared Super-Resolution Imaging of Amyloid Fibrils with the Fluorogenic Probe CRANAD-2

CRANAD-2 is a fluorogenic curcumin derivative used for near-infrared detection and imaging in vivo of amyloid aggregates, which are involved in neurodegenerative diseases. We explore the performance of CRANAD-2 in two super-resolution imaging techniques, namely stimulated emission depletion (STED) and single-molecule localization microscopy (SMLM), with markedly different fluorophore requirements. By conveniently adapting the concentration of CRANAD-2, which transiently binds to amyloid fibrils, we show that it performs well in both techniques, achieving a resolution in the range of 45–55 nm. Correlation of SMLM with atomic force microscopy (AFM) validates the resolution of fine features in the reconstructed super-resolved image. The good performance and versatility of CRANAD-2 provides a powerful tool for near-infrared nanoscopic imaging of amyloids in vitro and in vivo.     

Emerging Trends in Fluorescence Bioimaging of Divalent Metal Cations Using Small-Molecule Indicators

Visualization of cation dynamics inside a living system represent a major breakthrough at the crossroad of chemistry and cellular physiology. Since the inception of BAPTA-based cellular calcium indicators in the 1980s, generations of chemical and genetically encoded ion indicators spanning the visible spectrum have been developed. In this article, we bring up three emerging concepts in this field: 1. red-shifting cation indicators towards far-red and near-infrared (NIR) channels; 2. directing the indicators to various subcellular localizations; 3. lowering the phototoxicity of indicators for long term recording. These initiatives collectively echo the advocate of 4D cellular physiology, where biological processes within living systems can be panoramically unveiled under 3D, long-term, and multi-channel imaging with unprecedented spatial and temporal resolution. This outlook poses exciting challenges and opportunities for chemists to upgrade the toolkit of fluorescent indicators as key enablers for a new era of imageomics.     

Acridone-Based Host Materials for Green Phosphorescent and Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescent OLEDs with Low-Efficiency Roll-Offs

By linking the carbazole unit to the nitrogen atom of acridone through phenyl or pyridyl, two compounds, named 10-(4-(9H-carbazol-9-yl)phenyl)acridin-9(10H)-one (AC-Ph-Cz) and 10-(5-(9H-carbazol-9-yl)pyridin-2-yl)acridin-9(10H)-one (AC-Py-Cz) were designed and synthesized. These two materials, characterized with highly twisted and rigid structure, good thermal stability, and balanced carrier-transporting properties, were employed as host materials for green phosphorescent and thermally activated delayed fluorescent organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). The carbazole group, despite its small contribution to the highest occupied molecular orbitals (HOMOs) of these two materials, plays an essential role as an intramolecular host in energy delivering and improving the hole transporting ability of these two hosts. The incorporation of the electron-deficient pyridyl group as a linking group slightly improves the electron transporting capability of AC-Py-Cz. The green phosphorescent OLED (PhOLED) based on AC-Py-Cz exhibited excellent device performance with a turn-on voltage of 2.5 V, a maximum power efficiency and an external quantum efficiency (η_ext) of 89.8 lm W⁻¹ and 25.2 %, respectively, benefitting from the better charge-balancing ability of AC-Py-Cz host due to the presence of the pyridyl bridge. More importantly, all the devices based on these two hosts showed low efficiency roll-off at high brightness due to the suppressed non-radiative transition in the emitting layer. In particular, the AC-Py-Cz-hosted green PhOLED exhibited an efficiency roll-off of 1.6 % from the maximum next at a high brightness of 1000 cd m⁻² and a roll-off of 15.9 % at an extremely high brightness of 10000 cd m⁻². This study manifests that acridone-based host materials have great potential in fabricating OLEDs with low efficiency roll-off.     

FRET-based ratiometric fluorescent detection of arginine in mitochondrion with a hybrid nanoprobe

A ratiometric fluorescent hybrid nanoprobe CDs-1 for arginine(Arg),exhibiting high sensitivity(the limit of detection,LOD,being 6.5×10^-8 mol/L) and excellent selectivity and anti-interference ability,was fabricated through fluorescence resonance energy transfer(FRET) and the electrostatic attraction between positively-charged hemicyanine molecules and negatively-charged carbon dots(CDs).Arg can be quantitatively detected in the concentration range from 6.0×10^-5 mol/L to 2.7×10^-4 mol/L.Further,due to its ability to target mitochondrion and low cytotoxicity,intracellular Arg was succes s fully tracked through ratiometric fluorescence imaging.     

A Far-Red Emitting Fluorescent Chemogenetic Reporter for In Vivo Molecular Imaging

Far-red emitting fluorescent labels are highly desirable for spectral multiplexing and deep tissue imaging. Here, we describe the generation of frFAST (far-red Fluorescence Activating and absorption Shifting Tag), a 14-kDa monomeric protein that forms a bright far-red fluorescent assembly with (4-hydroxy-3-methoxy-phenyl)allylidene rhodanine (HPAR-3OM). As HPAR-3OM is essentially non-fluorescent in solution and in cells, frFAST can be imaged with high contrast in presence of free HPAR-3OM, which allowed the rapid and efficient imaging of frFAST fusions in live cells, zebrafish embryo/larvae, and chicken embryos. Beyond enabling the genetic encoding of far-red fluorescence, frFAST allowed the design of a far-red chemogenetic reporter of protein–protein interactions, demonstrating its great potential for the design of innovative far-red emitting biosensors.     

Noninvasive Temperature Measurement in Dental Materials Using Nd3+, Yb3+ Doped Nanoparticles Emitting in the Near Infrared Region

In this work, the application of near infrared (NIR)-emitting NaYbF₄:1%Tm³⁺@NaLuF₄:30%Nd³⁺ core–shell nanoparticles is reported for noninvasive probing and monitoring the temperature during photopolymerization of dental materials. When excited at 808 nm, the synthesized nanoparticles emit NIR photoluminescence (PL) with two distinctive peaks at 865 and 980 nm which correspond to radiative transitions from the doped Nd³⁺ and Yb³⁺ ions, respectively. Luminescence intensity ratio between these two bands is found to vary with temperature due to temperature-dependent electronic excitation energy transfer between Nd³⁺ and Yb³⁺ ions at the core/shell interface. This finding allows luminescence ratiometric evaluation of the in situ temperature during photopolymerization of resin cement (doped with nanoparticles) in a veneer placement procedure. In addition, the NIR emission also enables PL imaging of the distribution of the adhesive under the veneer. The results highlight that rare-earth ions–doped nanoparticles with both excitation and emission in the NIR spectral range are advantageous for both PL-based nanothermometry and imaging due to the reduced attenuation of NIR light by dental ceramics.     

曲面相机阵列多分辨成像方法

针对现有成像系统因数据冗余而无法兼顾大视场、高分辨、高效性的问题,结合人眼视网膜变分辨成像和并列式复眼成像原理,设计一种多分辨率成像的复合仿生成像系统.该成像系统按照球面和平面兼顾的曲面布局方式,利用11个相机镜头构建相机阵列,组成了四个等级分辨率的子眼拍摄模块.通过物距100 m的远景实验和物距10 m的近景实验发现,该系统在实现高分辨成像的同时,获得总视场达150.8°×37.8°.多分辨率成像实验结果表明,该系统获取的图像的分辨率从中心视场到边缘视场逐渐降低,并且相较于中心清晰全视场成像,四级分辨率成像的拼接图像数据量减少了17.2倍的数据冗余.