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 5 2021
Accepted
29 6 2021
First published
30 6 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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