Organic Spherical Nucleic Acids for the Transport of a NIR‐II‐Emitting Dye Across the Blood–Brain Barrier
Fan Xiao, Lin Lin, Zhicong Chao, Chen Shao, Zhe Chen, Zixiang Wei, Jingxiong Lu, Yishun Huang, Lanqing Li, Quan Liu, Yongye Liang, Leilei Tian
Abstract
DNA nanotechnology plays an increasingly important role in the biomedical field; however, its application in the design of organic nanomaterials is underexplored. Herein, we report the use of DNA nanotechnology to transport a NIR-II-emitting nanofluorophore across the blood-brain barrier (BBB), facilitating non-invasive imaging of brain tumors. Specifically, the DNA block copolymer, PS-b-DNA, is synthesized through a solid-phase click reaction. We demonstrate that its self-assembled structure shows exceptional cluster effects, among which BBB-crossing is the most notable. Therefore, PS-b-DNA is utilized as an amphiphilic matrix to fabricate a NIR-II nanofluorephore, which is applied in in vivo bioimaging. Accordingly, the NIR-II fluorescence signal of the DNA-based nanofluorophore localized at a glioblastoma is 3.8-fold higher than the NIR-II fluorescence signal of the PEG-based counterpart. The notably increased imaging resolution will significantly benefit the further diagnosis and therapy of brain tumors.