Wu, XiangZhang, YuanweiTakle, KendraBilsel, OsmanLi, Zhan JunLee, HyungseokLois, CarlosXiang, YangHan, Gang2022-08-232022-08-232016-01-262016-10-26ACS Nano. 2016 Jan 26;10(1):1060-6. doi: 10.1021/acsnano.5b06383. Epub 2016 Jan 11. <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.5b06383">Link to article on publisher's site</a>1936-0851 (Linking)10.1021/acsnano.5b0638326736013https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14038/37887<p>Co-author Kendra Takle is a doctoral student in the Neuroscience Program in the Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (GSBS) at UMass Medical School.</p>Near-infrared (NIR) dye-sensitized upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) can broaden the absorption range and boost upconversion efficiency of UCNPs. Here, we achieved significantly enhanced upconversion luminescence in dye-sensitized core/active shell UCNPs via the doping of ytterbium ions (Yb(3+)) in the UCNP shell, which bridged the energy transfer from the dye to the UCNP core. As a result, we synergized the two most practical upconversion booster effectors (dye-sensitizing and core/shell enhancement) to amplify upconversion efficiency. We demonstrated two biomedical applications using these UCNPs. By using dye-sensitized core/active shell UCNP embedded poly(methyl methacrylate) polymer implantable systems, we successfully shifted the optogenetic neuron excitation window to a biocompatible and deep tissue penetrable 800 nm wavelength. Furthermore, UCNPs were water-solubilized with Pluronic F127 with high upconversion efficiency and can be imaged in a mouse model.en-USbioimagingcore/active shell structuredye-sensitizingnear-infraredoptogeneticsupconversion nanoparticlesMedicinal-Pharmaceutical ChemistryNanomedicineNeuroscience and NeurobiologyJournal Articlehttps://escholarship.umassmed.edu/neurobiology_pp/1579309154neurobiology_pp/157