摘要
Upregulation of highly reactive oxygen species (ROS) such as hypochlorite (ClO-) is associated with many pathological conditions including cardiovascular diseases, neuron degeneration, lung injury, and cancer. However, real-time imaging of ClO- is limited to the probes generally relying on fluorescence with shallow tissue-penetration depth. We here propose a self-assembly approach to develop activatable and degradable photoacoustic (PA) nanoprobes for in vivo imaging of ClO-. A near-infrared absorbing amphiphilic oligomer is synthesized to undergo degradation in the presence of a specific ROS (ClO-), which integrates a π-conjugated but ClO- oxidizable backbone with hydrophilic PEG side chains. This molecular architecture allows the oligomer to serve as a degradable nanocarrier to encapsulate the ROS-inert dye and self-assemble into structurally stable nanoparticles through both π-π stacking and hydrophobic interactions. The self-assembled nanoprobe exhibits sensitive and specific ratiometric PA signals toward ClO-, permitting ratiometric PA imaging of ClO- in the tumor of living mice.
源语言 | 英语 |
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页(从-至) | 4174-4182 |
页数 | 9 |
期刊 | ACS Nano |
卷 | 11 |
期 | 4 |
DOI | |
出版状态 | 已出版 - 25 4月 2017 |
已对外发布 | 是 |