Search

Selective imaging and inducing mitochondrial dysfunction in tumor cells using mitochondria-targeting probes has become as a promising approach for cancer diagnosis and therapy. Here, we report the design of a fluorescent berberine analog, dehydroberberine (DH-BBR), as a new mitochondria-targeting probe capable of self-assembling into monodisperse organic nanoparticles (DTNPs) upon integration with a lipophilic counter anion, allowing for enhanced fluorescence imaging and treatment of tumors in living mice. X-ray crystallography revealed that the self-assembly process was attributed to a synergy of different molecular interactions, including π-π stacking, O⋅⋅⋅π interaction and electrostatic interaction between DH-BBR and counter anions. We demonstrated that DTNPs could efficiently enter tumor tissue following intravenous injection and enhance mitochondrial delivery of DH-BBR via an electrostatic interaction driven anion exchange process. Selective accumulation in the mitochondria capable of emitting strong fluorescence and causing mitochondrial dysfunction was achieved, enabling efficient inhibition of tumor growth in living mice. This study demonstrates promise for applying lipophilic anions to control molecular self-assembly and tune antitumor activity of mitochondria-targeting probes, which can facilitate to improve cancer treatment in vivo., (© 2018 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

γ-Glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) is a cell-membrane-bound enzyme that is involved in various physiological and pathological processes and is regarded as a potential biomarker for many malignant tumors, precise detection of which is useful for early cancer diagnosis. Herein, a new GGT-activatable near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence imaging probe (GANP) by linking of a GGT-recognitive substrate γ-glutamate (γ-Glu) and a NIR merocyanine fluorophore (mCy-Cl) with a self-immolative linker p-aminobenzyl alcohol (PABA) is reported. GANP was stable under physiological conditions, but could be efficiently activated by GGT to generate ≈100-fold enhanced fluorescence, enabling high sensitivity (detection limit of ≈3.6 mU L -1 ) and specificity for the real-time imaging of GGT activity as well as rapid evaluation of the inhibition efficacy of GGT inhibitors in living tumor cells. Notably, the deep tissue penetration ability of NIR fluorescence could further allow GANP to image GGT in frozen tumor tissue slices with large penetration depth (>100 μm) and in xenograft tumors in living mice. This GGT activatable NIR fluorescence imaging probe could facilitate the study and diagnosis of other GGT-correlated diseases in vivo., (© 2017 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)