Responsive upconversion nanoprobe for background-free hypochlorous acid detection and bioimaging

Abstract

Responsive nanoprobes play an important role in bioassay and bioimaging, early diagnosis of diseases and treatment monitoring. Herein, a upconversional nanoparticle (UCNP)-based nanoprobe, Ru@UCNPs, for specific sensing and imaging of hypochlorous acid (HOCl) is reported. This Ru@UCNP nanoprobe consists of two functional components,, i.e., NaYF₄ :Yb, Tm UCNPs that can convert near infrared light-to-visible light as the energy donor, and a HOCl-responsive ruthenium(II) complex [Ru(bpy)₂ (DNCH-bpy)](PF₆)₂ (Ru-DNPH) as the energy acceptor and also the upconversion luminescence (UCL) quencher. Within this luminescence resonance energy transfer nanoprobe system, the UCL OFF-ON emission is triggered specifically by HOCl. This triggering reaction enables the detection of HOCl in aqueous solution and biological systems. As an example of applications, the Ru@UCNPs nanoprobe is loaded onto test papers for semiquantitative HOCl detection without any interference from the background fluorescence. The application of Ru@UCNPs for background-free detection and visualization of HOCl in cells and mice is successfully demonstrated. This research has thus shown that Ru@UCNPs is a selective HOCl-responsive nanoprobe, providing a new way to detect HOCl and a new strategy to develop novel nanoprobes for in situ detection of various biomarkers in cells and early disgnosis of animal diseases.