# Cherenkov luminescence mediated excitation of discrete lanthanide optical probes

> **NIH NIH R21** · STATE UNIVERSITY NEW YORK STONY BROOK · 2021 · $235,887

## Abstract

Precision medicine requires tools that visualize diseased cells to enable diagnosis, facilitate surgical resection,
and monitor therapeutic response. Technologies to identify the interface of cancer and healthy tissues require
the ability to illuminate cancer cells with exceptional selectivity over healthy cells. This also requires optical
imaging probes that can selectively illuminate cancer in vivo. To date, molecular optical dyes utilized for
preclinical and clinical imaging studies are comprised of lipophilic organic molecules with limited water solubility,
predominantly hepatic clearance profile, residing in an “always on” state. These significant drawbacks motivate
investigation of alternative optical probes that exhibit improved water solubility and pharmacokinetics paired with
the ability to produce signal only in the target tissues of interest.
Luminescent lanthanide complexes with emissive properties in the first NIR (near-infrared) window provide a
highly water soluble and biocompatible alternative to lipophilic organic fluorophores with predominantly hepatic
clearance profiles. Excitation of luminescent lanthanides is most efficient at wavelengths of 250–350 nm. While
the resulting, effective Stokes-shift of is conveniently large, the short-wavelength excitation is incompatible with
the first biological optical imaging window of 550–1000 nm. This has prevented application of discrete
luminescent lanthanide complexes as optical probes for in vivo imaging applications to date. Our group has
pioneered the application of Cherenkov radiation (CR) of radionuclides for the in situ excitation of discrete
lanthanide complexes. CR is produced by isotopes decaying under emission of charged particles in dielectric
media and exhibits a maximum intensity below 400 nm. We have demonstrated that luminescent lanthanide
antenna complexes are ideal acceptors for Cherenkov radiation-mediated energy transfer (CRET). Here, we
propose to devise and implement targeted CRET lanthanide probes to image cancer heterogeneity with
multiplexed, optical imaging in vivo.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10215707
- **Project number:** 1R21EB030071-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** STATE UNIVERSITY NEW YORK STONY BROOK
- **Principal Investigator:** Eszter Boros
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $235,887
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-04-01 → 2024-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10215707

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10215707, Cherenkov luminescence mediated excitation of discrete lanthanide optical probes (1R21EB030071-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10215707. Licensed CC0.

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