Issue 4, 2021

Diagnosis of fatty liver disease by a multiphoton-active and lipid-droplet-specific AIEgen with nonaromatic rotors

Abstract

Fatty liver disease (FLD) has become an increasing global health risk. However, an accurate diagnosis of FLD at an early stage remains a great challenge due to the lack of suitable imaging tools. To this end, we developed the fluorescent two-photon aggregation-induced emission (AIE) luminogen ABCXF for high-contrast imaging of FLD tissue. ABCXF has a large Stokes shift, good two-photon absorption cross-section, bright red emission, and high fluorescence quantum yield in the solid-state, and excellent photostability. It shows a planar intramolecular charge transfer (PICT) effect instead of a twisted intramolecular charge transfer effect in polar solvents. Photophysical and crystal data demonstrated that the nonaromatic rotors – trifluoromethyl (–CF3) contribute to its AIE effect. Biocompatible lipid droplet-targeting ABCXF can selectively light up lesions in the FLD tissue with a high signal-to-noise ratio. It shows better imaging performance compared to Oil Red O. Thus, ABCXF can be a potential alternative to Oil Red O for the diagnosis and evaluation of FLD from a liver biopsy.

Graphical abstract: Diagnosis of fatty liver disease by a multiphoton-active and lipid-droplet-specific AIEgen with nonaromatic rotors

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Research Article
Submitted
28 Oct 2020
Accepted
23 Dec 2020
First published
23 Dec 2020

Mater. Chem. Front., 2021,5, 1853-1862

Diagnosis of fatty liver disease by a multiphoton-active and lipid-droplet-specific AIEgen with nonaromatic rotors

H. Park, S. Li, G. Niu, H. Zhang, Z. Song, Q. Lu, J. Zhang, C. Ma, R. T. K. Kwok, J. W. Y. Lam, K. S. Wong, X. Yu, Q. Xiong and B. Z. Tang, Mater. Chem. Front., 2021, 5, 1853 DOI: 10.1039/D0QM00877J

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements