H2S-activatable near-infrared afterglow luminescent probes for sensitive molecular imaging in vivo
Luyan Wu, Yusuke Ishigaki, Yuxuan Hu, Keisuke Sugimoto, Wenhui Zeng, Takashi Harimoto, Yidan Sun, Jian He, Takanori Suzuki, Xiqun Jiang, Hong‐Yuan Chen, Deju Ye
Abstract
Abstract Afterglow luminescent probes with high signal-to-background ratio show promise for in vivo imaging; however, such probes that can be selectively delivered into target sites and switch on afterglow luminescence remain limited. We optimize an organic electrochromic material and integrate it into near-infrared (NIR) photosensitizer (silicon 2,3-naphthalocyanine bis(trihexylsilyloxide) and (poly[2-methoxy-5-(2-ethylhexyloxy)-1,4-phenylenevinylene]) containing nanoparticles, developing an H 2 S-activatable NIR afterglow probe ( F1 2+ -ANP). F1 2+ -ANP displays a fast reaction rate (1563 ± 141 M −1 s −1 ) and large afterglow turn-on ratio (~122-fold) toward H 2 S, enabling high-sensitivity and -specificity measurement of H 2 S concentration in bloods from healthy persons, hepatic or colorectal cancer patients. We further construct a hepatic-tumor-targeting and H 2 S-activatable afterglow probe ( F1 2+ -ANP-Gal) for noninvasive, real-time imaging of tiny subcutaneous HepG2 tumors (<3 mm in diameter) and orthotopic liver tumors in mice. Strikingly, F1 2+ -ANP-Gal accurately delineates tumor margins in excised hepatic cancer specimens, which may facilitate intraoperative guidance of hepatic cancer surgery.