TY - JOUR A1 - Bhuckory, S. A1 - Wegner, Karl David A1 - Qiu, X. A1 - Wu, Y.T. A1 - Jennings, T. L. A1 - Incamps, A. A1 - Hildebrandt, N. T1 - Triplexed CEA-NSE-PSA Immunoassay Using Time-Gated Terbium-to-Quantum Dot FRET JF - Molecules N2 - Time-gated Förster resonance energy transfer (TG-FRET) between Tb complexes and luminescent semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) provides highly advantageous photophysical properties for multiplexed biosensing. Multiplexed Tb-to-QD FRET immunoassays possess a large potential for in vitro diagnostics, but their performance is often insufficient for their application under clinical conditions. Here, we developed a homogeneous TG-FRET immunoassay for the quantification of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), neuron-specific enolase (NSE), and prostatespecific antigen (PSA) from a single serum sample by multiplexed Tb-to-QD FRET. Tb–IgG antibody donor conjugates were combined with compact QD-F(ab’)2 antibody acceptor conjugates with three different QDs emitting at 605, 650, and 705 nm. Upon antibody–antigen–antibody Sandwich complex formation, the QD acceptors were sensitized via FRET from Tb, and the FRET ratios of QD and Tb TG luminescence intensities increased specifically with increasing antigen concentrations. Although limits of detection (LoDs: 3.6 ng/mL CEA, 3.5 ng/mL NSE, and 0.3 ng/mL PSA) for the triplexed assay were slightly higher compared to the single-antigen assays, they were still in a clinically relevant concentration range and could be quantified in 50 μL serum samples on a B·R·A·H·M·S KRYPTOR Compact PLUS clinical immunoassay plate reader. The simultaneous quantification of CEA, NSE, and PSA at different concentrations from the same serum sample demonstrated actual multiplexing Tb-to-QD FRET immunoassays and the potential of this technology for translation into clinical diagnostics. KW - Lanthanides KW - Nanoparticles KW - Biosensing KW - Multiplexing KW - FRET KW - Fluorescence KW - PSA KW - NSE KW - CEA PY - 2020 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-512290 DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules25163679 VL - 25 IS - 16 SP - 3679 PB - MDPI AN - OPUS4-51229 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Dhamo, Lorena A1 - Carulli, F. A1 - Nickl, Philip A1 - Wegner, Karl David A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Würth, Christian A1 - Brovelli, S. A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute T1 - Efficient luminescent solar concentrators based on environmentally friendly Cd-free ternary AIS/ZnS quantum dots JF - Advanced optical materials N2 - Luminescent solar concentrators (LSC) allow to obtain renewable energy from building integrated photovoltaic systems. As promising efficient and long-term stable LSC fluorophores semiconductor nanocrystals like Quantum dots (QDs) with size and composition tunable optoelectronic properties have recently emerged. The most popular II/VI or IV/VI semiconductor QDs contain, however, potentially hazardous cadmium or lead ions, which is a bottleneck for commercial applications. A simple aqueous based, microwaveassisted synthesis for environmentally friendly and highly emissive AgInS2/ ZnS QDs is developed using 3-mercaptopropionic acid (MPA) and glutathione (GSH) and their incorporation into polylaurylmethacrylate (PLMA) polymer slabs integrable in LSC devices (10.4 × 10.4 × 0.2 cm3, G = 12.98). With this simple approach, optical power efficiencies (OPE) of 3.8% and 3.6% and optical quantum efficiencies (OQE) of 24.1% and 27.4% are obtained, which are among the highest values yet reported. KW - Solar energy KW - Solar concentrator KW - Quantum dots KW - Advanced material KW - Quantum yield PY - 2021 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-529735 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/adom.202100587 SN - 2195-1071 SN - 0935-9648 VL - 9 IS - 17 SP - 1 EP - 8 PB - Wiley-VCH CY - Weinheim AN - OPUS4-52973 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Dhamo, Lorena A1 - Wegner, Karl David A1 - Würth, Christian A1 - Häusler, I. A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute T1 - Assessing the influence of microwave-assisted synthesis parameters and stabilizing ligands on the optical properties of AIS/ZnS quantum dots JF - Scientific reports N2 - Luminescent semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) are frequently used in the life and material sciences as reporter for bioimaging studies and as active components in devices such as displays, light-emitting diodes, solar cells, and sensors. Increasing concerns regarding the use of toxic elements like cadmium and lead, and hazardous organic solvents during QD synthesis have meanwhile triggered the search for heavy-metal free QDs using green chemistry syntheses methods. Interesting candidates are ternary AgInS2 (AIS) QDs that exhibit broad photoluminescence (PL) bands, large effective Stokes shifts, high PL quantum yields (PL QYs), and long PL lifetimes, which are particularly beneficial for applications such as bioimaging, white light-emitting diodes, and solar concentrators. In addition, these nanomaterials can be prepared in high quality with a microwave-assisted (MW) synthesis in aqueous solution. The homogeneous heat diffusion and instant temperature rise of the MW synthesis enables a better control of QD nucleation and growth and thus increases the batch-to-batch reproducibility. In this study, we systematically explored the MW synthesis of AIS/ZnS QDs by varying parameters such as the order of reagent addition, precursor concentration, and type of stabilizing thiol ligand, and assessed their influence on the optical properties of the resulting AIS/ZnS QDs. Under optimized synthesis conditions, water-soluble AIS/ZnS QDs with a PL QY of 65% and excellent colloidal and long-term stability could be reproducible prepared. KW - Quantum dots KW - Microwave-assisted synthesis KW - AgInS KW - Aqueous synthesis PY - 2022 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-567091 DO - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-25498-3 SN - 2045-2322 VL - 12 IS - 1 SP - 1 EP - 11 PB - Nature Publishing Group CY - London AN - OPUS4-56709 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Geißler, Daniel A1 - Wegner, Karl David A1 - Fischer, C. A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute T1 - Exploring Simple Particle-Based Signal Amplification Strategies in a Heterogeneous Sandwich Immunoassay with Optical Detection JF - Analytical Chemistry N2 - Heterogeneous sandwich immunoassays are widely used for biomarker detection in bioanalysis and medical diagnostics. The high analyte sensitivity of the current “gold standard” enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) originates from the signal-generating enzymatic amplification step, yielding a high number of optically detectable reporter molecules. For future point-of-care testing (POCT) and point-of-need applications, there is an increasing interest in more simple detection strategies that circumvent time-consuming and temperature-dependent enzymatic reactions. A common concept to aim for detection limits comparable to those of enzymatic amplification reactions is the usage of polymer nanoparticles (NP) stained with a large number of chromophores. We explored different simple NP-based signal amplification strategies for heterogeneous sandwich immunoassays that rely on an extraction-triggered release step of different types of optically detectable reporters. Therefore, streptavidinfunctionalized polystyrene particles (PSP) are utilized as carriers for (i) the fluorescent dye coumarin 153 (C153) and (ii) hemin (hem) molecules catalyzing the luminol reaction enabling chemiluminescence (CL) detection. Additionally, (iii) NP labeling with hemin-based microperoxidase MP11 was assessed. For each amplification approach, the PSP was first systematically optimized regarding size, loading concentration, and surface chemistry. Then, for an immunoassay for the inflammation marker C- eactive protein (CRP), the analyte sensitivity achievable with optimized PSP ystems was compared with the established ELISA concept for photometric and CL detection. Careful optimization led to a limit of detection (LOD) of 0.1 ng/mL for MP11-labeled PSP and CL detection, performing similarly well to a photometric ELISA (0.13 ng/mL), which demonstrates the huge potential of our novel assay concept. KW - Nanoparticle KW - Fluorescence KW - Immunoassay KW - Quality assurance KW - Antibody KW - Polymer KW - Dye KW - Signal enhancement KW - CRP KW - Biosensing PY - 2024 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-597853 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.analchem.3c03691 SN - 1520-6882 VL - 96 IS - 13 SP - 5078 EP - 5085 PB - American Chemical Society CY - Columbus, Ohio AN - OPUS4-59785 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kalot, G. A1 - Godard, A. A1 - Busser, B. A1 - Pliquett, J. A1 - Broekgaarden, M. A1 - Motto-Ros, V. A1 - Wegner, Karl David A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute A1 - Köster, U. A1 - Denat, F. A1 - Coll, J.-L. A1 - Bodio, E. A1 - Goze, C. A1 - Sancey, L. T1 - Aza-BODIPY: A New Vector for Enhanced Theranostic Boron Neutron Capture Therapy Applications JF - Cells N2 - Boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) is a radiotherapeutic modality based on the nuclear capture of slow neutrons by stable 10B atoms followed by charged particle Emission that inducing extensive damage on a very localized level (<10 um). To be effcient, a suffcient amount of 10B should accumulate in the tumor area while being almost cleared from the normal surroundings. A water-soluble aza-boron-dipyrromethene dyes (BODIPY) fluorophore was reported to strongly accumulate in the tumor area with high and BNCT compatible Tumor/Healthy Tissue ratios. The clinically used 10B-BSH (sodium borocaptate) was coupled to the water-soluble aza-BODIPY platform for enhanced 10B-BSH tumor vectorization. We demonstrated a strong uptake of the compound in tumor cells and determined its biodistribution in mice-bearing tumors. A model of chorioallantoic membrane-bearing glioblastoma xenograft was developed to evidence the BNCT potential of such compound, by subjecting it to slow neutrons. We demonstrated the Tumor accumulation of the compound in real-time using optical imaging and ex vivo using elemental imaging based on laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy. The tumor growth was significantly reduced as compared to BNCT with 10B-BSH. Altogether, the fluorescent aza-BODIPY/10B-BSH compound is able to vectorize and image the 10B-BSH in the tumor area, increasing its theranostic potential for effcient approach of BNCT. KW - Aza-BODIPY KW - SWIR KW - NIR-I KW - Theranostic KW - Boron compound KW - Optical imaging PY - 2020 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-512280 DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/cells9091953 VL - 9 IS - 9 SP - 1953 PB - MDPI AN - OPUS4-51228 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kang, Y. A1 - Nack, L. M. A1 - Liu, Y. A1 - Qi, B. A1 - Huang, Y. A1 - Liu, Z. A1 - Chakraborty, I. A1 - Schulz, F. A1 - Ahmed, A. A. A. A1 - Poveda, M. C. A1 - Hafizi, F. A1 - Roy, S. A1 - Mutas, M. A1 - Holzapfel, M. A1 - Sanchez-Cano, C. A1 - Wegner, Karl David A1 - Feliu, N. A1 - Parak, W. J. T1 - Quantitative considerations about the size dependence of cellular entry and excretion of colloidal nanoparticles for different cell types JF - ChemTexts N2 - Most studies about the interaction of nanoparticles (NPs) with cells have focused on how the physicochemical properties of NPs will influence their uptake by cells. However, much less is known about their potential excretion from cells. However, to control and manipulate the number of NPs in a cell, both cellular uptake and excretion must be studied quantitatively. Monitoring the intracellular and extracellular amount of NPs over time (after residual noninternalized NPs have been removed) enables one to disentangle the influences of cell proliferation and exocytosis, the major pathways for the reduction of NPs per cell. Proliferation depends on the type of cells, while exocytosis depends in addition on properties of the NPs, such as their size. Examples are given herein on the role of these two different processes for different cells and NPs. KW - Cell proliferation KW - Exocytosis KW - Gold nanoparticles KW - Quantum dots KW - Fluorescence KW - Uptake studies PY - 2022 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-543476 DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/s40828-021-00159-6 SN - 2199-3793 VL - 8 IS - 1 SP - 1 EP - 8 PB - Springer CY - Berlin AN - OPUS4-54347 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Le Guevel, X. A1 - Wegner, Karl David A1 - Würth, Christian A1 - Baulin, V. A. A1 - Musnier, B. A1 - Josserand, V. A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute A1 - Koll, J-C T1 - Tailoring the SWIR emission of gold nanoclusters by surface ligand rigidification and their application in 3D bioimaging JF - Chemical Communications N2 - The influence of solvent polarity and surface ligand rigidification on the SWIR emission profile of gold nanoclusters with an anistropic surface was investigated. A strong enhancement of the SWIR emission band at 1200 nm was observed when measuring in different local environments: in solution, in polymer composites, and in solids. SWIR in vivo imaging of mice assisted by deep learning after intravenous administration of these gold nanoclusters provides high definition pseudo-3D views of vascular blood vessels. KW - Nano KW - Nanomaterial KW - Metal cluster KW - Photoluminescence KW - Quantum yield KW - Photophysics KW - Lifetime KW - Sensor KW - NIR KW - SWIR KW - Ligand KW - Gold KW - Mechanism KW - Charge transfer KW - Enhancement strategy KW - Imaging KW - Application KW - Contrast agent PY - 2022 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-543582 DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/D1CC06737K VL - 58 IS - 18 SP - 2967 EP - 2970 PB - RSC AN - OPUS4-54358 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mohammad, W. A1 - Wegner, Karl David A1 - Comby-Zerbino, C. A1 - Trouillet, V. A1 - Ogayer, M. P. A1 - Coll, J.-L. A1 - Marin, R. A1 - Jaque Garcia, D. A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute A1 - Antoine, R. A1 - Le Guevel, X. T1 - Enhanced brightness of ultra-small gold nanoparticles in the second biological window through thiol ligand shell control JF - Journal of Materials Chemistry C N2 - Gold-based nanoparticles below 2 nm in size are promising as luminescent probes for in vivo bioimaging, owing to their brightness and rapid renal clearance. However, their use as contrast agents in the near-infrared II (NIR-II, 1000–1700 nm) range remains challenging due to their low photoluminescence (PL) quantum yield. To address this, PL enhancement can be achieved by either rigidifying the ligand-shell structure or increasing the size of the ligand shell. In this study, we synthesized ultra-small gold nanoparticles stabilized by co-ligands, namely monothiol and short dithiol molecules. By precisely controlling the amount of reducing agent used during particle preparation, we successfully modulated the physicochemical properties of the co-ligand shell, including its size, composition, and structure. Consequently, we achieved a remarkable 60-fold increase in the absorption cross-section at 990 nm while maintaining the small size of the 1.5-nm metal core. The analytical and optical characterization of our thiol-capped gold nanoparticles indicates that the ligand shell size is governed by the quantity of the reducing agent, which, in turn, impacts the balance between radiative and non-radiative processes, thereby influencing the PL quantum yield. KW - Gold nanocluster KW - NIR-II fluorescence KW - SWIR KW - Nanomaterial design KW - Calibrated fluorescence measurements PY - 2023 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-588117 DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/D3TC03021K SN - 2050-7526 VL - 11 IS - 42 SP - 14714 EP - 14724 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) AN - OPUS4-58811 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Santos, C.I.L. A1 - Machado, W.S. A1 - Wegner, Karl David A1 - Gontijo, L.A.P. A1 - Bettini, J. A1 - Schiavon, M.A. A1 - Reiss, P. A1 - Aldakov, D. T1 - Hydrothermal Synthesis of Aqueous-Soluble Copper Indium Sulfide Nanocrystals and Their Use in Quantum Dot Sensitized Solar Cells JF - Nanomaterials N2 - facile hydrothermal method to synthesize water-soluble copper indium sulfide (CIS) nanocrystals (NCs) at 150 degrees C is presented. The obtained samples exhibited three distinct photoluminescence peaks in the red, green and blue spectral regions, corresponding to three size fractions, which could be separated by means of size-selective precipitation. While the red and green emitting fractions consist of 4.5 and 2.5 nm CIS NCs, the blue fraction was identified as in situ formed carbon nanodots showing excitation wavelength dependent emission. When used as light absorbers in quantum dot sensitized solar cells, the individual green and red fractions yielded power conversion efficiencies of 2.9% and 2.6%, respectively. With the unfractionated samples, the efficiency values approaching 5% were obtained. This improvement was mainly due to a significantly enhanced photocurrent arising from complementary panchromatic absorption. KW - Aqueous quantum dot KW - Solar cells KW - CUINS2 nanocrystals KW - Colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals PY - 2020 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-517983 DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/nano10071252 VL - 10 IS - 7 SP - 1252 PB - MDPI AN - OPUS4-51798 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Soares, J. X. A1 - Wegner, Karl David A1 - Ribeiro, D. S. M. A1 - Melo, A. A1 - Häusler, I. A1 - Santos, J. L. M. A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute T1 - Rationally designed synthesis of bright AgInS2/ZnS quantum dots with emission control JF - Nano Research N2 - In the blossoming field of Cd-free semiconductor quantum dots (QDs), ternary I–III–VI QDs have received increasing attention due to the ease of the environmentally friendly synthesis of high-quality materials in water, their high photoluminescence (PL) Quantum yields (QYs) in the red and near infrared (NIR) region, and their inherently low toxicity. Moreover, their oxygen-insensitive long PL lifetimes of up to several hundreds of nanoseconds close a gap for applications exploiting the compound-specific parameter PL lifetime. To overcome the lack of reproducible synthetic methodologies and to enable a design-based control of their PL properties, we assessed and modelled the synthesis of high-quality MPA-capped AgInS2/ZnS (AIS/ZnS) QDs. Systematically refined Parameters included reaction time, temperature, Ag:In ratio, S:In ratio, Zn:In ratio, MPA:In ratio, and pH using a design-of-experiment approach. Guidance for the optimization was provided by mathematical models developed for the application-relevant PL parameters, maximum PL wavelength, QY, and PL lifetime as well as the elemental composition in terms of Ag:In:Zn ratio. With these experimental data-based models, MPA:In and Ag:In ratios and pH values were identified as the most important synthesis parameters for PL Control and an insight into the connection of these parameters could be gained. Subsequently, the experimental conditions to synthetize QDs with tunable emission and high QY were predicted. The excellent agreement between the predicted and experimentally found PL features confirmed the reliability of our methodology for the rational design of high quality AIS/ZnS QDs with defined PL features. This approach can be straightforwardly extended to other ternary and quaternary QDs and to doped QDs. KW - Modelling KW - Nanoparticle KW - AIS KW - Semiconductor quantum dot KW - Design of experiment KW - Photoluminescence KW - Quantum yield KW - Surface chemistry KW - Synthesis KW - Lifetime PY - 2020 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-510075 DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-020-2876-8 VL - 13 IS - 9 SP - 2438 EP - 2450 PB - Springer AN - OPUS4-51007 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -