Photoluminescent nanocluster-based probes for bioimaging applications

Area of Science:

• * Nanotechnology
• * Materials Science
• * Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• * Photoluminescent metal nanoclusters are nanoscale materials with tunable optical properties.
• * Their small size (<2-3 nm) and quantized electronic states enable discrete UV-Vis and NIR transitions.
• * Ligand shells stabilize nanoclusters and allow for surface functionalization.

Purpose of the Study:

• * To provide an overview of recent advancements in nanocluster-based hybrid systems for bioimaging and biosensing.
• * To classify these systems based on their coating ligand families.
• * To highlight their potential biomedical applications.

Main Methods:

• * Literature review of combined imaging or sensing nanocluster-based systems.
• * Classification based on coating ligands: peptides, proteins, nucleic acids, and biocompatible polymers.
• * Analysis of reported applications in the biomedical field.

Main Results:

• * Demonstrated versatility of metal nanoclusters as probes for optical bioimaging and biosensing.
• * Successful integration of nanoclusters with biomolecules into hybrid platforms.
• * Identified diverse biomedical applications stemming from tailored surface functionalization.

Conclusions:

• * Metal nanocluster-based hybrid platforms show significant promise for advanced biomedical imaging and sensing.
• * Ligand choice critically influences the performance and application scope of these nanoclusters.
• * Continued research in this area is expected to yield novel diagnostic and therapeutic tools.