Fluorescent organic nanoparticles outperform existing methods for long-term tracking of living cells

A research team in Asia has developed a method for tracking, or 'tracing', cells that overcomes the limitations of existing methods.

The team's fluorescent organic tracers will provide researchers with a non-invasive tool to continually track biological processes for long periods. Applications for the tracers include following carcinogenesis or the progress of interventions such as stem cell therapies.

Bin Liu and Ben Zhong Tang of the A*STAR Institute of Materials Research and Engineering in Singapore and their co-workers developed probes composed of a small number of molecules that aggregate. The aggregation means that the probes have more detectable fluorescence and less leakage than that provided by single-molecule probes. Importantly, rather than 'blink', the team's tracers show steady fluorescence, and do not contain heavy metal ions that can be toxic for living systems.

Compared with their existing inorganic counterparts, the team's carbon-based tracers show greater chemical stability and improved biocompatibility with cell biochemistry. They are also more resistant to bleaching by light and do not interfere with normal biochemical processes. Furthermore, the fluorescent signals emitted by the probes do not overlap with the signal naturally emitted by cells.