Upconversion fluorescence imaging of cells and small animals using lanthanide doped nanocrystals

Upconversion fluorescence imaging technique with excitation in the near-infrared (NIR) region has been used for imaging of biological cells and tissues. This has several advantages, including absence of photo-damage to living organisms, very low auto-fluorescence, high detection sensitivity, and high light penetration depth in biological tissues. In this report we demonstrate the use of a new upconversion fluorophore, lanthanide doped nanocrystals, for imaging of cells and some deep tissues in animal. Polyethyleneimine (PEI) coated NaYF4:Yb,Er nanoparticles were synthesized, which produce very strong upconversion fluorescence when excited at 980 nm by a NIR laser. The nanoparticles were shown to be stable in physiologic buffered saline (PBS), non-toxic to bone marrow stem cells, and resistant to photo-bleaching. The nanoparticles delivered into some cell lines or injected intradermally and intramuscularly into some tissues either near the body surface or deep in the body of rats showed visible fluorescence, when exposed to a 980 nm NIR laser. To the best of our knowledge, this represents the first demonstration of use of upconversion fluorophores for cellular and tissue imaging.