Radioactivity-synchronized fluorescence enhancement using a radionuclide fluorescence-quenched dye.

We demonstrate the first evidence of radioactivity-synchronized fluorescence quenching of a near-infrared light-emitting dye by a radionuclide, (64)Cu, and subsequent fluorescence enhancement upon (64)Cu decay to the daughter isotopes (64)Ni and (64)Zn. The dynamic switch from high radioactivity and low fluorescence to low radioactivity and high fluorescence is potentially useful for developing complementary multimodal imaging and detection platforms for chemical, environmental, and biomedical applications as well as for unraveling the mechanisms of metal-induced dynamic fluorescence changes.