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 okt 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

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