Fluorescent dyes with aggregation-induced emission provide new probes for cancer diagnosis and therapy
Wednesday, July 18, 2012 - 07:31
in Physics & Chemistry
Fluorescent nanoparticles loaded with organic light-emitting dyes are expected to transform live-animal imaging technologies. Compared to inorganic quantum dots, these optically stable materials are non-toxic and can easily be modified with functional groups, making them ideal when targeting specific tissues in the body. Unfortunately, traditional dyes have been known to aggregate and lose their emission intensity when incorporated in nanoparticles at high concentration. To overcome this problem, a team of researchers led by Bin Liu and Ben Zhong Tang at the A*STAR Institute of Materials Research and Engineering have now designed a family of dyes with enhanced fluorescence upon aggregation.