Using optical tweezers to construct an upconversion luminescent resonance energy transfer analytical platform

We report a new upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) based luminescent resonance energy transfer (LRET) analytical platform by making use of optical tweezers technology. The LRET model is designed by simultaneously conjugating Yb3+ and Er3+ co-doped UCNPs (as the donors) and tetramethyl rhodamine (TAMRA) molecules (as the acceptors) on microspheres to fabricate complex microspheres. Upon a single complex microsphere entering the three-dimensional potential well formed with a tightly focused 980 nm Guassian-shaped laser beam, it is optically trapped and concurrently the upconversion emission is excited, whereby the donor signals are transferred to the acceptors. As a proof-of-concept investigation, microRNA-21 sequences are selected as the targets, by which the distance between the two perfectly matched luminophors is controlled to several nanometers via nucleic acid hybridization. Without the involvement of luminescence amplification strategies, the proposed single microsphere based LRET method shows highly competitive sensitivity with a limit of detection down to 114 fM and satisfactory specificity towards microRNAs detection. Moreover, its practical working ability is demonstrated by credibly quantifying the absolute contents of miRNA-21 sequences in three cancer cell lines and even tracing the targets in as few as 100 cancer cells. Thus, this favorable analytical methodology provides an alternative for bioassays and holds certain potential in biomedical applications.