Significant multiplexing capacity of optical time-domain coding has been recently demonstrated by tuning luminescence lifetimes of the upconversion nanoparticles called ‘τ-Dots’. It provides a large dynamic range of lifetimes from microseconds to milliseconds, which allows creating large libraries of nanotags/microcarriers. However, a robust approach is required to rapidly and accurately measure the luminescence lifetimes from the relatively slow-decaying signals. Here we show a fast algorithm suitable for the microsecond region with precision closely approaching the theoretical limit and compatible with the rapid scanning cytometry technique. We exploit this approach to further extend optical time-domain multiplexing to the downconversion luminescence, using luminescence microspheres wherein lifetimes are tuned through luminescence resonance energy transfer. We demonstrate real-time discrimination of these microspheres in the rapid scanning cytometry, and apply them to the multiplexed probing of pathogen DNA strands. Our results indicate that tunable luminescence lifetimes have considerable potential in high-throughput analytical sciences.

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This review compares the chemical and physical properties of lanthanide ion complexes and of other narrow-emitting species that can be used as labels for cytometry. A series of luminescent lanthanide ion macrocyclic complexes, Quantum Dyes Ò , which do not release or exchange their central lanthanide ion, do accept energy transfer from ligands, and are capable of covalent binding to macromolecules, including proteins and nucleic acids, is described and their properties are discussed.Two methods are described for increasing the luminescence intensity of lanthanide ion complexes, which intrinsically is not as high as that of standard fluorophores or quantum dots. One method consists of adding a complex of a second lanthanide ion in a micellar solution (columinescence); the other method produces dry preparations by evaporation of a homogeneous solution containing an added complex of a second lanthanide ion or an excess of an unbound antenna ligand. Both methods involve the Resonance Energy Transfer Enhanced Luminescence, RETEL, effect as the mechanism for the luminescence enhancement. q 2006 International Society for Analytical Cytology Key terms: Quantum Dye; RETEL; lanthanide; macrocycle; luminescence; columinescence; time-delayed; europium; terbium Only one article published in Cytometry, by Seveus et al.(1), has described in detail the use of a lanthanide ion complex as a luminescent label for an antibody, and this article, published in 1992, dealt primarily with the instrumentation for time-gated microscopy. Thus, it is appropriate for a special issue of Cytometry to include a focused review of this class of luminescent labels. Extensive reviews of the clinical and other uses of lanthanide complexes have previously been published by Hemmil€ a and coworkers (2-4).This review presents a comparison of the spectral properties, relative sizes, and essential chemical features of lanthanide complexes and other narrow emitting labels. It also provides a critical description of two related approaches that can be used to overcome the comparatively low molar extinction coefficients (molar absorptivities) of lanthanide ion complexes: 1) the columinescence effect, where the luminescence of a lanthanide complex is increased in a micellar solution by energy transfer from a complex of a non-emitting lanthanide to a complex of an emitting lanthanide, and 2) the Resonance Energy Transfer Enhanced Luminescence, RETEL, effect (5) where the energy transfer occurs in the solid state.A companion Technical Note (6) describes the experimental aspects of the RETEL effect (5), which resulted in a major increase of the luminescence intensity of a specific type of lanthanide macrocycles, the Quantum Dyes Ò . This increase in luminescence facilitates the use of the Quantum Dyes as labels, either with fluorescent microscopes conventionally illuminated by a Mercury-Xenon (Hg-Xe) arc or-when it is helpful to eliminate contamination from the emissions of conventional fluorophoreswith new cost-effective time-gating instrumentation.The emissions...