Cancer-targeted near infrared imaging using rare earth ion-doped ceramic nanoparticles

The use of near-infrared (NIR) light over 1000 nm (OTN-NIR or second NIR) is advantageous for bioimaging because it enables deep tissue penetration due to low scattering and autofluorescence. In this report, we describe the application of rare earth ion-doped ceramic nanoparticles to cancer-targeted NIR imaging using erbium and ytterbium ion-doped yttrium oxide nanoparticles (YNP) functionalized with streptavidin via bi-functional PEG (SA-YNP). YNP has NIR emission at 1550 nm, with NIR excitation at 980 nm (NIR-NIR imaging). Cancer-specific NIR-NIR imaging was demonstrated using SA-YNP and biotinylated antibodies on cancer cells and human colon cancer tissues. NIR-NIR imaging through porcine meat of 1 cm thickness was also demonstrated, supporting the possible application of deep tissue NIR-NIR bioimaging using YNP as a probe. Our results suggest that non-invasive imaging using YNP has great potential for general application in cancer imaging in living subjects.