Metal–organic frameworks for biosensing and bioimaging applications

Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) are a class of hybrid materials assembled from metal ion/cluster connecting points and organic bridging ligands. On the basis of their properties of structural flexibility, porosity, controllable synthesis and flexibility of the pore size/wall modification, MOFs have shown great potential applications in biological sensing and imaging applications. Compared with inorganic nanomaterials (e.g., graphene, graphene oxide, gold nanoparticles and MoS2), MOFs are potentially advantageous for biological applications owing to their intrinsic biodegradability and the ability to use biocompatible building blocks. Recently, many types of MOFs were applied for sensing DNA, RNA, enzyme activity and small-biomolecules, as well as for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT), which are useful techniques for clinical diagnosis. In this review, I aim to present the recent progress achieved in MOF research for biosensing and bioimaging. The compositional tenability of MOF imaging platforms should greatly facilitate their further development for clinical translation.