Activatable Near-Infrared Fluorescent and Photoacoustic Dual-Modal Probe for Highly Sensitive Imaging of Sulfatase In Vivo
Mei‐Hao Xiang, Zhi-Yuan Jiang, Wenlong Zhao, Ensheng Zhang, Lian Xia, Rongmei Kong, Yan Zhao, Weiheng Kong, Xianjun Liu, Fengli Qu, Weihong Tan
Abstract
Sulfatase is an important biomarker closely associated with various diseases. However, the state-of-the-art sulfatase probes are plagued with a short absorption/emission wavelength and limited sensitivity. Developing highly sensitive fluorescent probes for in vivo imaging of sulfatase remains a grand challenge. Herein, for the first time, an activatable near-infrared fluorescence/photoacoustic (NIRF/PA) dual-modal probe (Hcy-SA) for visualizing sulfatase activity in living cells and animals is developed. Hcy-SA is composed of a sulfate ester moiety as the recognition unit and a NIR fluorophore hemicyanine (Hcy-OH) as the NIRF/PA reporter. The designed probe exhibits a rapid response, excellent sensitivity, and high specificity for sulfatase detection in vitro. More importantly, cells and in vivo experiments confirm that Hcy-SA can be successfully applied for PA/NIRF dual-modal imaging of sulfatase activity in living sulfatase-overexpressed tumor cells and tumor-bearing animals. This probe can serve as a promising tool for sulfatase-related pathological research and cancer diagnosis.