Engineering NIR-II luminescent lanthanide nanoprobes for imaging brain diseases in vivo

• Published in: Coordination chemistry reviews Vol. 496; p. 215401
• Main Authors: Du, Yuxuan, Ni, Siqi, Ma, Qiuping, Song, Xiaorong, Yang, Huanghao
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01.12.2023
• Subjects: Brain imaging; Diagnostics; Lanthanide; Nanoprobe; NIR-II luminescence; Lanthanide; Brain imaging; NIR-II luminescence; Diagnostics; Nanoprobe
• ISSN: 0010-8545
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ccr.2023.215401

•Brain imaging progresses are briefly introduced to emphasize the significance of NIR-II PL imaging based on lanthanide nanoprobes.•Brain delivery strategies and design principles of NIR-II lanthanide nanoprobes are detailed for improving brain imaging performance.•Brain imaging studies of NIR-II lanthanide nanoprobes are overviewed, focusing on imaging brain vessels, injuries, and tumors.•Current achievements and future challenges in NIR-II lanthanide nanoprobes based brain imaging are discussed. Brain research is a cutting-edge topic but it remains challenging to achieve noninvasive sensitive diagnosis of brain diseases. Lanthanide nanocrystals (NCs) with near-infrared II (NIR-II) photoluminescence (PL) have shown great promise for noninvasive through-skull high-resolution imaging. Currently, it still lacks a systematic review discussing the emerging spectroscopic and nanoprobe engineering of NIR-II luminescent lanthanide NCs for specific imaging of brain diseases. Herein, we comprehensively review recent development of NIR-II lanthanide nanoprobes for brain disease imaging in vivo. We first summarize luminescence regulation strategies aiming to enhance the NIR-II PL efficiency of lanthanide NCs. Then, the design strategies of lanthanide nanoprobes are introduced with the effort to improve their brain delivery efficacy and NIR-II PL imaging specificity and sensitivity in the brain. In particular, we comprehensively detail the latest tailoring of lanthanide nanoprobes for NIR-II PL imaging of brain diseases such as brain injuries and tumors. Finally, we propose future opportunities and challenges in the exploration of NIR-II lanthanide nanoprobes and practical imaging studies of brain diseases. This review is anticipated to motivate future engineering of lanthanide nanoprobes for the diagnosis and treatment of brain diseases.