Issue 31, 2021

NIR-II cell endocytosis-activated fluorescent probes for in vivo high-contrast bioimaging diagnostics

Abstract

Fluorescence probes have great potential to empower bioimaging, precision clinical diagnostics and surgery. However, current probes are limited to in vivo high-contrast diagnostics, due to the substantial background interference from tissue scattering and nonspecific activation in blood and normal tissues. Here, we developed a kind of cell endocytosis-activated fluorescence (CEAF) probe, which consists of a hydrophilic polymer unit and an acid pH-sensitive small-molecule fluorescent moiety that operates in the “tissue-transparent” second near-infrared (NIR-II) window. The CEAF probe stably presents in the form of quenched nanoaggregates in water and blood, and can be selectively activated and retained in lysosomes through cell endocytosis, driven by a synergetic mechanism of disaggregation and protonation. In vivo imaging of tumor and inflammation with a passive-targeting and affinity-tagged CEAF probe, respectively, yields highly specific signals with target-to-background ratios over 15 and prolonged observation time up to 35 hours, enabling positive implications for surgical, diagnostic and fundamental biomedical studies.

Graphical abstract: NIR-II cell endocytosis-activated fluorescent probes for in vivo high-contrast bioimaging diagnostics

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Edge Article
Submitted
20 may 2021
Accepted
29 iyn 2021
First published
30 iyn 2021
This article is Open Access

All publication charges for this article have been paid for by the Royal Society of Chemistry
Creative Commons BY license

Chem. Sci., 2021,12, 10474-10482

NIR-II cell endocytosis-activated fluorescent probes for in vivo high-contrast bioimaging diagnostics

Y. He, S. Wang, P. Yu, K. Yan, J. Ming, C. Yao, Z. He, A. M. El-Toni, A. Khan, X. Zhu, C. Sun, Z. Lei and F. Zhang, Chem. Sci., 2021, 12, 10474 DOI: 10.1039/D1SC02763H

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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