title: Conjugated polymer amplified far-red/near-infrared fluorescence from nanoparticles with aggregation-induced emission characteristics for targeted in vivo imaging.
abstract: Fluorescence-amplified far-red/near-infrared (FR/NIR) nanoparticles (NPs) are synthesized by co-encapsulation of conjugated polymer donor (poly[9,9-bis(2-(2-(2-methoxyethoxy)ethoxy)ethyl)fluorenyldivinylene]; PFV) and a fluorogen acceptor (2-(2,6-bis((E)-4-(phenyl(4'-(1,2,2-triphenylvinyl)-[1,1'-biphenyl]-4-yl)amino)styryl)-4H-pyran-4-ylidene)malononitrile; TPE-TPA-DCM) with aggregation-induced emission (AIE) characteristics using biocompatible bovine serum albumin (BSA) as the encapsulation matrix. The good spectral overlap and close proximity between PFV and TPE-TPA-DCM in BSA NPs result in a 5.3-fold amplified TPE-TPA-DCM emission signal via fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET). The obtained PFV/TPE-TPA-DCM co-loaded BSA NPs are spherical in shape with a large Stokes shift of ∼223 nm and low cytotoxicity. The BSA matrix allows further functionalization with arginine-glycine-aspartic acid (RGD) peptide to yield fluorescent probes for specific recognition of integrin receptor-overexpressed cancer cells. The advantage of PFV amplified FR/NIR signal from TPE-TPA-DCM is further demonstrated in cellular and in vivo imaging using HT-29 colon cancer cells and a murine hepatoma H22 tumor-bearing mouse model, respectively. The high FR/NIR fluorescence and specific cancer targeting ability by RGD surface functionalization make the PFV/TPE-TPA-DCM co-loaded BSA-RGD NPs a unique FR/NIR fluorescent probe for cellular imaging and in vivo tumor diagnosis in a high contrast and selective manner.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, National University of Singapore, 117576, Singapore.
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.forename: Kai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.forename: Ruoyu
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zhan
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Jianzhao
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Ben Zhong
authors.initials: BZ
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D003287:Contrast Media / Q000737:chemistry / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000494:pharmacology; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000494:pharmacology; D019073:HT29 Cells; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008853:Microscopy; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D009374:Neoplasms, Experimental / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D009842:Oligopeptides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D010316:Particle Size; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000494:pharmacology; D012710:Serum Albumin, Bovine / Q000737:chemistry; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence / Q000379:methods*; D019265:Spectroscopy, Near-Infrared / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D003287:Contrast Media; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D009842:Oligopeptides; D011108:Polymers; D012710:Serum Albumin, Bovine; C047981:arginyl-glycyl-aspartic acid