Photostable Ratiometric Pdot Probe for in Vitro and in Vivo Imaging of Hypochlorous Acid

• Published in: Journal of the American Chemical Society Vol. 139; no. 20; pp. 6911 - 6918
• Main Authors: Wu, Li, Wu, I-Che, DuFort, Christopher C, Carlson, Markus A, Wu, Xu, Chen, Lei, Kuo, Chun-Ting, Qin, Yuling, Yu, Jiangbo, Hingorani, Sunil R, Chiu, Daniel T
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Chemical Society 24.05.2017
• Subjects: fluorescence; fluorescent dyes; Fluorescent Dyes - chemistry; Hypochlorous Acid - analysis; image analysis; macrophages; mice; Molecular Structure; peritonitis; photobleaching; Photochemical Processes; photostability; polymers; reactive oxygen species
• ISSN: 0002-7863; 1520-5126; 1520-5126
• DOI: 10.1021/jacs.7b01545

Developing probes for the detection of reactive oxygen species (ROS), a hallmark of many pathophysiological process, is imperative to both understanding the precise roles of ROS in many life-threatening diseases and optimizing therapeutic interventions. We herein report an all-in-one fluorescent semiconducting polymer based far-red to near-infrared (NIR) Pdot nanoprobe for the ratiometric detection of hypochlorous acid (HOCl). The fabrication takes the advantage of flexible polymer design by incorporating target-sensitive and target-inert fluorophores into a single conjugated polymer to avoid leakage or differential photobleaching problems existed in other nanoprobes. The obtained nanoprobe has improved performance in HOCl sensing, such as high brightness, ideal far-red to NIR optical window, excellent photostability, self-referenced ratiometric response, fast response, and high selectivity. The dual-emission property allows the sensitive imaging of HOCl fluctuations produced in living macrophage cells and peritonitis of living mice with high contrast. This study not only provides a powerful and promising nanoprobe to be potentially used in the investigations of in situ HOCl status of diseases in living systems but also puts forward the design strategy of a new category of ratiometric fluorescent probes facilitating precise and reliable measurement in biological systems.