Resonant Energy Transfer, with Creation of Hyper-Excited Atoms, and Molecular Auto-Ionization in a Cold Rydberg Gas

A cold Rydberg gas, with its atoms prepared initially all in the excited state |n0> , with n0 »1, contains an excessive amount of energy, and presumably is to relax by the Penning-type molecular auto-ionization (MAI), in which a portion of excess energy of one atom is given to another near-by atom and ionizing it. Its complementary process, the resonant energy transfer (RET), is discussed, in which the excess energy of one atom is used on another to form a hyper-excited atomic state |na> with na»n0. This process is always present, provided certain resonance energy conditions are satisfied. In this report, the n0 and density dependences of the RET rates are studied in detail, employing a simple model: 1) at low densities, the RET is mediated by the dipole-dipole coupling Vdd and its rates are generally much smaller than that of MAI, especially for small n0. But 2) as the density increases, our model shows that the rates become of comparable magnitude or even larger than the MAI rates. The Vdd is no longer adequate. We, then construct a semi-empirical potential to describe the RET process. 3) At high densities, we show that the atomic orbital of |na> overlaps with that of neighboring atoms, and the electron-electron potential becomes prominent, resulting in much higher rates.

Monitoring the in vivo siRNA release from lipid nanoparticles based on the fluorescence resonance energy transfer principle

The siRNA-loaded lipid nanoparticles have attracted much attention due to its significant gene silencing effect and successful marketization.However,the in vivo distribution and release of siRNA still cannot be effectively monitored.In this study,based on the fluorescence resonance energy transfer(FRET)principle,a fluorescence dye Cy5-modified survivin siRNA was conjugated to nanogolds(Au-DR-siRNA),which were then wrapped with lipid nanoparticles(LNPs)for monitoring the release behaviour of siRNA in vivo.The results showed that once Au-DR-siRNA was released from the LNPs and cleaved by the Dicer enzyme to produce free siRNA in cells,the fluorescence of Cy5 would change from quenched state to activated state,showing the location and time of siRNA release.Besides,the LNPs showed a significant antitumor effect by silencing the survivin gene and a CT imaging function superior to iohexol by nanogolds.Therefore,this work provided not only an effective method for monitoring the pharmacokinetic behaviour of LNP-based siRNA,but also a siRNA delivery system for treating and diagnosing tumors.

A mini review and hypothesis for coronavirus detection using photonics: surface enhanced Raman scattering and fluorescence resonance energy transfer

COVID-19 has devastated numerous nations around the world and has overburdened numerous healthcare systems,which has also caused the loss of livelihoods due to prolonged shutdowns and further led to a cascading effect on the global economy.COVID-19 infections have an incubation period of 2–7 days,but 40 to 45%of cases are asymptomatic or show mild to moderate respiratory symptoms after the period due to subclinical lung abnormalities,making it more likely to spread the pandemic disease.To restrict the spread of the virus,on-site diagnosis methods that are quicker,more precise,and easily accessible are required.Rapid Antigen Detection Tests and Polymerase Chain Reaction tests are currently the primary methods used to determine the presence of COVID-19 viruses.These tests are typically time-consuming,not accurate,and,more importantly,not available to everyone.Hence,in this review and hypothesis,we proposed equipment that employs the properties of photonics to improve the detection of COVID-19 viruses by taking the advantage of typical binding of coronavirus with angiotensin-converting enzyme 2(ACE2)receptors.This hypothetical model would combine Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering(SERS)and Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer(FRET)to provide great flexibility,high sensitivities,and enhanced accessibility.

Enhancing the Photosensitivity of Hypocrellin A by Perylene Diimide Metallacage‑Based Host–Guest Complexation for Photodynamic Therapy

The development of supramolecular hosts which can efficiently encapsulate photosensitizers to improve the photodynamic efficacy holds great promise for cancer therapy.Here,we report two perylene diimide-based metallacages that can form stable host–guest complexes with planar conjugated molecules including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and photosensitizers(hypocrellin A).Such host–guest complexation not only prevents the aggregation of photosensitizers in aqueous environments,but also offers fluorescence resonance energy transfer(FRET)from the metallacage to the photosensitizers to further improve the singlet oxygen generation(Φ_(Δ)=0.66).The complexes are further assembled with amphiphilic polymers,forming nanoparticles with improved stability for anticancer study.Both in vitro and in vivo studies indicate that the nanoparticles display excellent anticancer activities upon light irradiation,showing great potential for cancer photodynamic therapy.This study provides a straightforward and effective approach for enhancing the photosensitivity of conventional photosensitizers via host–guest complexation-based FRET,which will open a new avenue for host–guest chemistry-based supramolecular theranostics.

A novel fluorescence sensor for milk clotting enzyme chymosin using peptide as substrate and covalent organic framework nanosheet as fluorescence quencher

Chymosin is one of the critical enzymes in cheese making.Herein,we proposed a novel fluorometric assay for chymosin determination.Firstly,covalent organic frameworks(COF)were synthesized and exfoliated to 2-dimensional COF nanosheets(COF NS)by ultrasound treatment.Gold nanoparticles(Au NPs)were loaded with COF NS to prepare AuNPs/COF NS(Au@COF NS).Secondly,rhodamine B(RhB)modified substrate peptide(Pep)for chymosin was linked with Au@COF NS to construct a Pep-Au@COF NS nanocomposite.For the sensing principle,fluorescence of RhB was quenched by Au@COF NS and the fluorescence intensity was weak due to the fluorescence resonance energy transfer between COF NS and RhB of Pep.However,in the presence of chymosin,the RhB was released by specific cleavage of the substrate peptide by chymosin and resulted in the recovery of fluorescence.The increased fluorescence intensity was proportional to the increase of chymosin concentration and thus a“turn on”fluorescent sensor for chymosin was constructed.The sensor showed a linear range in the concentration of 0.05-60.00μg/mL for the detection of chymosin with a detection limit of 20 ng/mL.The sensor was used to quantify chymosin in rennet product with good selectivity,which has the potential applications in cheese manufacturing.

A piezoelectric energy harvester based on internal resonance

A vibration-based energy harvester is essentially a resonator working in a limited frequency range.To increase the working frequency range is a challenging problem.This paper reveals a novel possibility for enhancing energy harvesting via internal resonance.An internal resonance energy harvester is proposed.The excitation is successively assumed as the Gaussian white noise,the colored noise defined by a second-order filter,the narrow-band noise,and exponentially correlated noise.The corresponding averaged root-meansquare output voltages are computed.Numerical results demonstrate that the internal resonance increases the operating bandwidth and the output voltage.

Screening and identification of bioactive compounds from citrus against non-structural protein 3 protease of hepatitis C virus genotype 3a by fluorescence resonance energy transfer assay and mass spectrometry

BACKGROUND Hepatitis C virus genotype 3a(HCV G3a)is highly prevalent in Pakistan.Due to the elevated cost of available Food and Drug Administration-approved drugs against HCV,medicinal natural products of potent antiviral activity should be screened for the cost-effective treatment of the disease.Furthermore,from natural products,active compounds against vital HCV proteins like non-structural protein 3(NS3)protease could be identified to prevent viral proliferation in the host.AIM To develop cost-effective HCV genotype 3a NS3 protease inhibitors from citrus fruit extracts.METHODS Full-length NS3 without co-factor non-structural protein 4A(NS4A)and codon optimized NS3 protease in fusion with NS4A were expressed in Escherichia coli.The expressed protein was purified by metal ion affinity chromatography and gel filtration.Citrus fruit extracts were screened using fluorescence resonance energy transfer(FRET)assay against the protease and polyphenols were identified as potential inhibitors using electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry(MS)/MS technique.Among different polyphenols,highly potent compounds were screened using molecular modeling approaches and consequently the most active compound was further evaluated against HCV NS4A-NS3 protease domain using FRET assay.RESULTS NS4A fused with NS3 protease domain gene was overexpressed and the purified protein yield was high in comparison to the lower yield of the full-length NS3 protein.Furthermore,in enzyme kinetic studies,NS4A fused with NS3 protease proved to be functionally active compared to full-length NS3.So it was concluded that co-factor NS4A fusion is essential for the purification of functionally active protease.FRET assay was developed and validated by the half maximal inhibitory concentration(IC50)values of commercially available inhibitors.Screening of citrus fruit extracts against the native purified fused NS4A-NS3 protease domain showed that the grapefruit mesocarp extract exhibits the highest percentage inhibition 91%of protease activity.Among the compounds identified by LCMS analysis,hesperidin showed strong binding affinity with the protease catalytic triad having S-score value of-10.98.CONCLUSION Fused NS4A-NS3 protease is functionally more active,which is effectively inhibited by hesperidin from the grapefruit mesocarp extract with an IC50 value of 23.32μmol/L.

Highly-efficient quantitative fluorescence resonance energy transfer measurements based on deep learning

Intensity-based quantitative fluorescence resonance energy transfer(FRET)is a technique to measure the distance of molecules in scale of a few nanometers which is far beyond optical diffraction limit.This widely used technique needs complicated experimental process and manual image analyses to obtain precise results,which take a long time and restrict the application of quantitative FRET especially in living cells.In this paper,a simplified and automatic quanti-tative FRET(saqFRET)method with high efficiency is presented.In saqFRET,photo-activatable acceptor PA-mCherry and optimized excitation wavelength of donor enhanced green fluorescent protein(EGFP)are used to simplify FRET crosstalk elimination.Traditional manual image analyses are time consuming when the dataset is large.The proposed automatic image analyses based on deep learning can analyze 100 samples within 30 s and demonstrate the same precision as manual image analyses.

Investigation of fluorescence resonance energy transfer ultrafast dynamics in electrostatically repulsed and attracted exciton-plasmon systems

Following the gradual maturation of synthetic techniques for nanomaterials,exciton-plasmon composites have become a research hot-spot due to their controllable energy transfer through electromagnetic fields on the nanoscale.However,most reports ignore fluorescence resonance energy transfer(FRET)under electrostatic repulsion conditions.In this study,the FRET process is investigated in both electrostatic attraction and electrostatic repulsion systems.By changing the Au:quantum dot ratio,local-field induced FRET can be observed with a lifetime of ns and a fast component of hundreds of ps.These results indicate that the intrinsic transfer process can only elucidated by considering both steady and transient state information.

A SIMPLE METHOD TO CALCULATE RESONANCE ENERGY

A very simple method to calculate resonance energies of conjugated hydrocarbons by counting carbon numbers was introduced.

Retraction Note:Screening and identification of bioactive compounds from citrus against non-structural protein 3 protease of hepatitis C virus genotype 3a by fluorescence resonance energy transfer assay and mass spectrometry

Retraction note:Khan M,Rauf W,Habib F,Rahman M,Iqbal M.Screening and identification of bioactive compounds from citrus against non-structural protein 3 protease of hepatitis C virus genotype 3a by fluorescence resonance energy transfer assay and mass spectrometry.World J Hepatol 2020;12(11):976-992 PMID:33312423 DOI:10.4254/wjh.v12.i11.976.The online version of the original article can be found at https://www.wjgnet.com/1948-5182/full/v12/i11/976.htm.

Phonon-assisted excitation energy transfer in photosynthetic systems

The phonon-assisted process of energy transfer aiming at exploring the newly emerging frontier between biology and physics is an issue of central interest.This article shows the important role of the intramolecular vibrational modes for excitation energy transfer in the photosynthetic systems.Based on a dimer system consisting of a donor and an acceptor modeled by two two-level systems,in which one of them is coupled to a high-energy vibrational mode,we derive an effective Hamiltonian describing the vibration-assisted coherent energy transfer process in the polaron frame.The effective Hamiltonian reveals in the case that the vibrational mode dynamically matches the energy detuning between the donor and the acceptor,the original detuned energy transfer becomes resonant energy transfer.In addition,the population dynamics and coherence dynamics of the dimer system with and without vibration-assistance are investigated numerically.It is found that,the energy transfer efficiency and the transfer time depend heavily on the interaction strength of the donor and the high-energy vibrational mode,as well as the vibrational frequency.The numerical results also indicate that the initial state and dissipation rate of the vibrational mode have little influence on the dynamics of the dimer system.Results obtained in this article are not only helpful to understand the natural photosynthesis,but also offer an optimal design principle for artificial photosynthesis.

The complex momentum representation approach and its application to low‑lying resonances in 17 O and^(29,31)F

Approaches for predicting low-lying resonances,uniformly treating bound,and resonant levels have been a long-standing goal in nuclear theory.Accordingly,we explored the viability of the complex momentum representation(CMR)approach coupled with new potentials.We focus on predicting the energy of the low-lying 2p_(3∕2)resonance in 17 O,which is critical for s-process nucleosynthesis and missing in previous theoretical research.Using a Woods-Saxon potential based on the Koning-Delaroche optical model and constrained by the experimental one-neutron separation energy,we successfully predicted the resonant energy of this level for the first time.Our predictions of the bound levels and 1d_(3∕2)resonance agree well with the measurement results.Additionally,we utilize this approach to study the near-threshold resonances that play a role when forming a two-neutron halo in^(29,31)F.We found that the CMR-based predictions of the bound-level energies and unbound 1f7∕2 level agree well with the results obtained using the scattering phase shift method.Subsequently,we successfully found a solution for the 2p_(3∕2)resonance with energy just above the threshold,which is decisive for halo formation.

Efficient transfer of metallophosphor excitons via confined polaritons in organic nanocrystals

We investigate the transfer of phosphorescent energy between co-assembled metallophosphors in crystalline nanostructures [Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 57 7820(2018) and J. Am. Chem. Soc. 140 4269(2018)]. Neither Dexter's nor Forster's mechanism of resonance energy transfer(RET) could account fully for the observed rates, which exceed 85% with significant temperature dependence. But there exists an alternative pathway on RET mediated by intermediate states of resonantly confined exciton–polaritons. Such a mechanism was used to analyze artificial photosynthesis in organic fluorescents [Phys.Rev. Lett. 122 257402(2019)]. For metallophosphors, the confined modes act as extended states lying between the molecular S_(1) and T_(1) states, offering a bridge for the long-lived T_(1) excitons to migrate from donors to acceptors. Population dynamics with parameters taken entirely based on experiments fits the observed lifetimes of phosphorescence across a broad range of doping and temperature.

Utilizing dual-pathway energy transfer in upconversion nanoconjugates for reinforced photodynamic therapy

Enhancing the therapeutic effect of existing treatments or developing new non-invasive treatments are important measures to achieve high-efficiency treatment of malignant tumors.Photodynamic therapy(PDT)is an emerging treatment modality,and the key for achieving high-efficiency PDT is to select light with strong tissue penetration depth and enhance the generation of reactive oxygen species(ROS).Although the upconversion nanoparticles(UCNPs)modified with the photosensitizers could achieve PDT with strong penetration depth under near-infrared light irradiation,the ROS generated by traditional single-pathway PDT is still insufficient.Herein,we developed a novel nanoconjugate(UCNP-Ce6/AIEgen)for dual-pathway reinforced PDT,in which the UCNPs were co-modified with chlorin e6(Ce6)and luminogen with aggregation-induced emission(AIEgen).Due to the presence of AIEgen,UCNP-Ce6/AIEgen could avoid aggregation-caused luminescence quenching in biological water environments and convert upconversion luminescence(UCL)of UCNPs to Ce6-activatable fluorescence.Therefore,under the irradiation of 808 nm laser,UCNP-Ce6/AIEgen can not only undergo direct lanthanide-triplet energy transfer to activate Ce6,but also convert the UCL of UCNPs to the light that can activate Ce6 through Fӧrster resonance energy transfer to generate more ROS,thus promoting tumor cell apoptosis.This work broadens the applications of nanoconjugates of lanthanide-based inorganic materials and organic dyes,and provides a conception for reinforced PDT of tumors.

Lifetime-tunable circularly polarized luminescent system based on triplet-to-singlet Förster resonance energy transfer

Circularly polarized luminescence(CPL)materials have received widespread attention due to their remarkable performance and broad applications.However,current CPL material research primarily focuses on tunable color,intensity,and reversibility.Constructing CPL with adjustable lifetime remains a significant challenge.Herein,a series of CPL polymeric materials with tunable lifetime were obtained by employing phosphorescent terephthalic acid and chiral organic small molecule R/S-BNAF(a luminescent binaphthol derivative)to copolymerize with acrylamide in different ratios.It was verified that this performance results from the different energy transfer efficiency between luminophores with varying ratios of the monomers for copolymerization.This strategy to realize CPL with tunable lifetime by modulating the energy transfer efficiency will provide a new perspective to broaden the applications of CPL materials.

Observation of amyloid precursor protein cleavage and Aβ generation in living cells by using multiphoton laser scanning microscopy

Objective To investigate the proteolytic mechanism of amyloid precursor protein （APP） and to explore amyloidbeta （Aβ） generation in living neurons. Methods DNA fragments were amplified by PCR or synthesized. The four fragments, CFP, 54bp, YFP and C99 were ligated into pcDNA3.0 vector to construct the recombinant plasmids pcDNA3.0-CFP-54bp- YFP and pcDNA3.0-CFP-54bp-YFP-C99. The SH-SY5Y cells were transiently transfected with pcDNA3.0-CFP-54bp-YFP or pcDNA3.0-CFP-54bp-YFP-C99. The expression of fusion gene was examined under a multiphoton laser scanning microscope. Fluorescence resonance energy transfer （FRET） was used to measure the β cleavage and γ cleavage of APE Aβ generation was confirmed by immunocytochemistry and multiphoton laser scanning microscopy. Cell viability was tested by MTT assay at different time points. Results （1） The double restriction endonuclease digestion and sequencing analysis confirmed the authenticity of the recombinant plasmids pcDNA3.0-CFP-54bp-YFP and pcDNA3.0-CFP-54bp- YFP-C99. （2） Blue and yellow fluorescences were detected in the transfected cells. （3） FRET occurred in pcDNA3.0-CFP- 54bp-YFP-transfected cells but not in pcDNA3.0-CFP-54bp-YFP-C99-transfected cells. （4） Aβ was produced in the pcDNA3.0- CFP-54bp-YFP-C99 transfected cells. （5） Aβ-deposition was widespread in the cell. （6） Cell viability decreased along with the intracellular Aβ deposition. Conclusion C99 is important for the APP β cleavage. Aβ may be generated and deposited in cells at the early stage of Alzheimer＇s disease. Intracellular Aβ accumulation brings deleterious effects on cells.

Preassembly and ligand-induced restructuring of the chains of the IFN-γ receptor complex： the roles of Jak kinases, Statl and the receptor chains

We previously demonstrated using noninvasive technologies that the interferon-gamma （IFN-γ） receptor complex is preassembled [ 1 ]. In this report we determined how the receptor complex is preassembled and how the ligand-mediated conformational changes occur. The interaction of Statl with IFN-γR1 results in a conformational change localized to IFN- γR1. Jakl but not Jak2 is required for the two chains of the IFN-γ receptor complex （IFN-γR1 and IFN-γR2） to interact; however, the presence of both Jakl and Jak2 is required to see any ligand-dependant conformational change. Two IFN- γR2 chains interact through species-specific determinants in their extracellular domains. Finally, these determinants also participate in the interaction of IFN-γR2 with IFN-γR1. These results agree with a detailed model of the IFN-γ receptor that requires the receptor chains to be pre-associated constitutively for the receptor to be active.

Spectroscopic analysis on the binding interaction of biologically active pyrimidine derivative with bovine serum albumin

A biologically active antibacterial reagent, 2-amino-6-hydroxy-4-（4-N, N-dimethylaminophenyl）-pyr- imidine-5-carbonitrile （AHDMAPPC）, was synthesized. It was employed to investigate the binding in- teraction with the bovine serum albumin （BSA） in detail using different spectroscopic methods. It ex- hibited antibacterial activity against Escherichia cali and Staphylococcus aureus which are common food poisoning bacteria. The experimental results showed that the fluorescence quenching of model carrier protein BSA by AHDMAPPC was due to static quenching. The site binding constants and number of binding sites （n ≈ 1） were determined at three different temperatures based on fluorescence quenching results. The thermodynamic parameters, enthalpy change （AH）, free energy （AG） and entropy change （AS） for the reaction were calculated to be 15.15 kJ/mol, -36.11 kJ/mol and 51.26J/mol K according to van＇t Hoff equation, respectively. The results indicated that the reaction was an endothermic and spontaneous process, and hydrophobic interactions played a major role in the binding between drug and BSA. The distance between donor and acceptor is 2.79 nm according to Forster＇s theory. The alterations of the BSA secondary structure in the presence of AHDMAPPC were confirmed by UV-visible, synchronous fluorescence, circular dichroism （CD） and three-dimensional fluorescence spectra. All these results in- dicated that AHDMAPPC can bind to BSA and be effectively transported and eliminated in the body. It can be a useful guideline for further drug design.

Adaption of Au Nanoparticles and CdTe Quantum Dots in DNA Detection

A DNA fluorescence probe system based on fluorescence resonance energy transfer （FRET） from CdTe quantum dot （QD） donors to Au nanoparticle （AuNP） acceptors is presented. CdTe QDs, 2.5nm in diameter, as energy donors, were prepared in water. Au nanoparticles, 16nm in diameter, as energy acceptors, were prepared from gold chloride by reduction. CdTe QDs were linked to 5＇-NH2-DNA through 1-ethyl-3-（dimethylaminopropyl）car- bodiimide hydrochloride （EDC） as a linker, and the 3＇-SH-DNA was self-assembled onto the surface of AuNPs. The hybridization of complementary double stranded DNA （dsDNA） bound to the QDs and AuNPs （CdTe-dsDNA-Au） determined the FRET distance of CdTe QDs and Au nanoparticles. Compared to the fluorescence of CdTe-DNA, the fluorescence of CdTe-DNA-Au conjugates decreased extremely, which indicated that the FRET occurred between CdTe QDs and Au nanoparticles. The fluorescence change of this conjugate depended on the ratio of Au-DNA to CdTe-DNA. When the AuNPs-DNA to QD-DNA ratio was 10：1, the FRET efficiency reached a maximum. The probe system would have a certain degree of fluorescence recovery when a complementary single stranded DNA was introduced into this system, which showed that the distance between CdTe QDs and Au nanoparticles was increased.