Perturbing Tandem Energy Transfer in Luminescent Heterobinuclear Lanthanide Coordination Polymer Nanoparticles Enables Real-Time Monitoring of Release of the Anthrax Biomarker from Bacterial Spores

Abstract

Lanthanide-based luminescent sensors have been widely used for the detection of the anthrax biomarker dipicolinic acid (DPA). However, mainly based on DPA sensitization to the lanthanide core, most of them failed to realize robust detection of DPA in bacterial spores. We proposed a new strategy for reliable detection of DPA by perturbing a tandem energy transfer in heterobinuclear lanthanide coordination polymer nanoparticles simply constructed by two kinds of lanthanide ions, Tb and Eu, and guanosine 5'-monophosphate. This smart luminescent probe was demonstrated to exhibit highly sensitive and selective visual luminescence color change upon exposure to DPA, enabling accurate detection of DPA in complex biosystems such as bacterial spores. DPA release from bacterial spores on physiological germination was also successfully monitored in real time by confocal imaging. This probe is thus expected to be a powerful tool for efficient detection of bacterial spores in responding to anthrax threats.

Recent Progress in Time‐Resolved Biosensing and Bioimaging Based on Lanthanide‐Doped Nanoparticles

“…Due to these excellent properties, LCPNs are suitable for background‐free biosensing with time‐resolved luminescence technology. Many kinds of LCPNs have been developed and widely employed in sensing targets varying from metal ions to biomolecules …”

“…Wu and co‐workers developed a series of LCPNs based on guanosine 5′‐monophosphate (GMP) and lanthanide ions (Tb 3+ and Eu 3+ ) by varying the ratio of Tb 3+ /Eu 3+ . The LCPNs were prepared by self‐assembly of Tb 3+ and Eu 3+ with GMP ( Figure a).…”

“…b) Fluorescence decay curves of Tb 3+ and c) Eu 3+ in GMP‐Tb/Eu with varying ratios of Tb 3+ /Eu 3+ . a–c) Reproduced with permission . Copyright 2018, American Chemical Society.…”

“…In addition, the polymer matrix can prevent leakage of lanthanide complexes, thereby reducing the toxicity in bioapplications. These properties make lanthanide complex‐embedded polymer nanoparticles excellent candidates for biosensing and bioimaging …”

Dual stimuli-responsive lanthanide-based phosphors for an advanced full-color anti-counterfeiting system

“…As is known that DPA can offer oxygen atoms of the carboxyl group and nitrogen atoms of the pyridine ring and is usually used as remarkable "antenna" for coordinating with Ln(III) to prepare green and red phosphors while seldom for preparing Ln-based blue phosphors. [28][29][30] Herein, the blue-emitting DPA-Ce is feasibly prepared by rst blending DPA and Ce 3+ in ethanol and then exposing the mixture under UV lamp irradiation (302 nm, 60 W) for 20 min (Fig. 1A).…”