1. Debut of a NIR ESIPT-based fluorescent probe with synergistic effects for boosting high-contrast imaging of β-galactosidase in ovarian cancer.
- Author
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Feng, Bin, Chu, Feiyi, Huang, Xueyan, Fang, Yanpeng, Liu, Min, Liu, Meihui, Chen, Fei, and Zeng, Wenbin
- Subjects
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INTRAMOLECULAR charge transfer , *BOOSTING algorithms , *FLUORESCENT probes , *OVARIAN cancer , *CELL imaging , *SIGNAL-to-noise ratio , *MOLECULAR probes - Abstract
Long-wavelength emission with high contrast toward species of interest is highly desired for fluorescence imaging in living objects. Herein, we proposed an exquisite enzyme-regulated "aggregation-induced emission (AIE) and intramolecular charge transfer (ICT)" strategy to optimize the signal-to-noise ratio for highly sensitive detection of enzymes. Benefiting from the synergistic effect, probes ABT-Gal-1 and ABT-Gal-2 exhibited faint background signals but dramatically enhanced near-infrared fluorescence upon exposure toward β-galactosidase (β-gal). Notably, both probes could be accessible in aqueous media. Preferably, the fluorescence intensity of ABT-Gal-1 exhibited a satisfactory linear relationship in the wide concentration range of 0.5–30 U/L with a very low detection limit to 0.24 U/L. Further, by monitoring endogenous β-gal in ovarian cancer cells, a precious merit of resistance to multiple washes was identified, which was facilitated by the nanoaggregate formation in situ upon activation. This work proposes a guiding strategy for manipulating various lighting mechanisms to develop attractive probes and, equally importantly, it provides an ideal practical tool for elucidating the biological role of β-gal in biological scenarios. [Display omitted] • Comprehensive insights into the ICT and AIE characteristic of amino-type ESIPT-based fluorophore are proposed. • An exquisite enzyme-regulated "AIE and ICT" strategy to optimize the signal-to-noise ratio is reported for the first time. • Debut of activatable AIE probe for β-gal with emission in near-infrared window is well presented. • Probe ABT-Gal-1 was allowed in aqueous media with the lowest detection limit (0.24 U/L) compared with reported probes. • The nanoaggregation-allowed probe was firstly disclosed with resistance to multiple washes during cell imaging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2023
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