Periodic Reporting for period 1 - Upbiosens (Near-infrared nucleic acids sensing and imaging using lanthanide-based nanoparticles capped with DNA)
Reporting period: 2019-05-01 to 2021-04-30
Due to the near-infrared (NIR) excitation, multiple and narrow emission bands over a broad wavelength range, and lack of photoblinking and photobleaching, the use of upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) offers the opportunity to design highly sensitive multiplexed UCNPs-based sensing probes.
The Upbiosens project describes a novel method to produce a nanobiosensor combining the sensing ability of the DNA strands and the optical properties of the UCNPs as the transducer element to detect and visualize DNA or/and miRNA. Hence, the project addresses the problem of capping UCNPs with DNA while keeping their hybridization capacity as well as controlling the UCNP size, overcoming one of the main limitations of the UCNPs for their application as NA sensors. The outcome of the project can be promisingly bio-implemented, such as in prognosis, diagnostics, and treatment of diseases, gene therapy, or forensic analysis.
This novel technology can be integrated into a broad range of applications, such as gene therapy, diagnosis/therapy of genetic diseases as well as prognosis, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases. Thus, the outcome of the project may have a potential impact on the understanding of the causes and mechanisms of genetic diseases as well as the ability to monitor, detect and treat diseases. Likewise, those results will allow the development of advanced technology to construct a currently unavailable simple-to-use but high-performance imaging tool based on UCNPs for NA sensing and imaging.
Additionally, the project has contributed to the understanding of the energy transfer mechanisms in UC PL processes in UCNPs, as well as to the mechanisms involved in FRET processes from UCNPs to an energy acceptor upon NIR excitation, which are not yet completely elucidated and is crucial for the wide and successful application of UC luminescent materials as sensors.