Optically Encoded Semiconducting Polymer Dots with Single-Wavelength Excitation for Barcoding and Tracking of Single Cells

Multiplexed optical encoding is emerging as a powerful technique for high-throughput cellular analysis and molecular assays. Most of the developed optical barcodes, however, either suffer from large particle size or are incompatible with most commercial optical instruments. Here, a new type of nanos...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Analytical chemistry (Washington) 2017-06, Vol.89 (11), p.6232-6238
Main Authors: Kuo, Chun-Ting, Peng, Hong-Shang, Rong, Yu, Yu, Jiangbo, Sun, Wei, Fujimoto, Bryant, Chiu, Daniel T
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bar codes
Boron Compounds - chemistry
Brightness
Cancer
Cell division
Cells
Chemistry
Color
Cytometry
Division
Emissions
Excitation
Flow cytometry
Fluorenes - chemistry
Fluorescence
Fluorescent Dyes - chemical synthesis
Fluorescent Dyes - chemistry
Humans
Hydrogen-Ion Concentration
MCF-7 Cells
Molecular Structure
Multiplexing
Optical instruments
Optical Phenomena
Particle Size
pH effects
Polymers
Polymers - chemical synthesis
Polymers - chemistry
Quantum Dots - chemistry
Semiconductors
Single-Cell Analysis
Surface Properties
Temperature
Thermal stability
Tracking
Tumor Cells, Cultured
Wavelength
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Summary:Multiplexed optical encoding is emerging as a powerful technique for high-throughput cellular analysis and molecular assays. Most of the developed optical barcodes, however, either suffer from large particle size or are incompatible with most commercial optical instruments. Here, a new type of nanoscale fluorescent barcode (Pdot barcodes) was prepared from semiconducting polymers. The Pdot barcodes possess the merits of small size (∼20 nm in diameter), narrow emission bands (full-width-at-half-maximum (fwhm) of 30–40 nm), three-color emissions (blue, green, and red) under single-wavelength excitation, a high brightness, good pH and thermal stability, and efficient cellular uptake. The Pdot barcodes were prepared using a three-color and six-intensity encoding strategy; for ratiometric readout of the barcodes, one of the colors might be used as an internal reference. We used the Pdot barcodes to label 20 sets of cancer cells and then distinguished and identified each set based on the Pdot barcodes using flow cytometry. We also monitored and tracked single cells labeled with different Pdot barcodes, even through rounds of cell division. These results suggest Pdot barcodes are strong candidates for discriminating different labeled cell and for long-term cell tracking.
ISSN:0003-2700
1520-6882
DOI:10.1021/acs.analchem.7b01214