Researchers from Japan’s National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology (QST) and the University of Tokyo have engineered Molecular Quantum Nanosensors (MoQNs). 

These biocompatible quantum sensors use pentacene molecular spin qubits embedded in organic nanocrystals to perform quantum-sensing-based absolute thermometry and free radical detection within specific subcellular compartments, including the nucleus and cytoplasm, of living cancer cells.

The researchers designed the MoQNs to operate in the cytoplasm and nuclei of living cancer cells to map radical-generation processes and thermal dynamics that are linked to cancer-associated cellular physiology.

The MoQNs consist of photo-excited triplet electron spins of pentaceneguests doped into para-terphenyl host nanocrystals.

The nanocrystals are encapsulated in a Pluronic F127 surfactant shell, rendering them water-dispersible and enabling cellular uptake without toxic aggregation.

Unlike traditional inorganic quantum sensors (e.g., diamond nitrogen-vacancy centres), MoQNs are synthesized bottom-up without introducing lattice vacancies, yielding high structural reproducibility and minimal spectral variation across sensor batches.

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