Design of Activatable NIR-II Molecular Probe for In Vivo Elucidation of Disease-Related Viscosity Variations

• Published in: Analytical chemistry (Washington) Vol. 92; no. 6; pp. 4177 - 4181
• Main Authors: Dou, Kun, Huang, Weijing, Xiang, Yunhui, Li, Songjiao, Liu, Zhihong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Chemical Society 17.03.2020
• Subjects: Analytical chemistry; Animals; Chemistry; Diabetes mellitus; Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental - chemically induced; Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental - diagnostic imaging; Embedding; Fluorescence; Fluorescent Dyes - administration & dosage; Fluorescent Dyes - chemical synthesis; Fluorescent Dyes - chemistry; Fluorescent indicators; Glycerol; Infrared Rays; Injections, Intraperitoneal; Liver Diseases - diagnostic imaging; Mice; Microscopy, Fluorescence; Molecular Structure; Nitrogen dioxide; Optical Imaging; Polarity; Streptozocin; Viscosity
• ISSN: 0003-2700; 1520-6882
• DOI: 10.1021/acs.analchem.0c00634

A clear elucidation of a disease-related viscosity change in vivo is significant yet highly challenging as well. Fluorescence imaging in the second near-infrared region (NIR-II, 1000–1700 nm) has gained increasing attention for observation in living organisms, but a viscosity-activatable fluorescent probe emitting at this region remains a vacancy. Herein, we report the first panel of a viscosity-activated NIR-II emissive fluorescent probe WD-X. By embedding different substituents into the WD-X platform and screening, we obtained an ideal probe, WD-NO 2 , which displayed the best combination of properties, including a 31-fold fluorescence enhancement in response to viscosity, insensitivity to environments (pH, polarity), and relatively high quantum yield (1.6% in glycerol). WD-NO 2 was successfully applied to track the variation of viscosity in diabetes-induced liver injury in vivo.