RT Journal Article T1 Highly fluorescent magnetic nanobeads with a remarkable stokes shift as labels for enhanced detection in immunoassays A1 Salis, Francesca A1 Descalzo López, Ana Belén A1 Benito Peña, María Elena A1 Moreno Bondi, María Cruz A1 Orellana Moraleda, Guillermo AB Fluorescence immunoassays are popular for achieving high sensitivity, but they display limitations in biological samples due to strong absorption of light, background fluorescence from matrix components, or light scattering by the biomacromolecules. A powerful strategy to overcome these problems is introduced here by using fluorescent magnetic nanobeads doped with two boron-dipyrromethane dyes displaying intense emission in the visible and near-infrared regions, respectively. Careful matching of the emission and absorption features of the dopants leads to a virtual Stokes shift larger than 150 nm achieved by an intraparticle Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) process between the donor and the acceptor dyes. Additionally, the magnetic properties of the fluorescent beads allow preconcentration of the sample. To illustrate the usefulness of this approach to increase the sensitivity of fluorescence immunoassays, the novel nanoparticles are employed as labels for quantification of the widely used Tacrolimus (FK506) immunosuppressive drug. The FRET-based competitive inhibition immunoassay yields a limit of detection (LOD) of 0.08 ng/mL, with a dynamic range (DR) of 0.15–2.0 ng/mL, compared to a LOD of 2.7 ng/mL and a DR between 4.1 and 130 ng/mL for the immunoassay carried out with direct excitation of the acceptor dye. PB Wiley SN 1613-6810 SN 1613-6829 YR 2018 FD 2018-05-17 LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/93321 UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/93321 LA eng NO European Funds for Regional Development (FEDER) NO Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness DS Docta Complutense RD 21 ago 2024