title: In vivo Near-infrared Fluorescence Tumor Imaging Using DiR-loaded Nanocarriers.
abstract: The hydrophobic long-chain dialkylcarbocyanine 1,1'-dioctadecyl-3,3,3',3'-tetramethylindotricarbocyanine iodide (DiR) is an important near infrared (NIR) fluorescent dye, which has a satisfactory photo stability for continuous excitation. During the past decade, it has been widely used for in vivo monitoring of cells. With the fast emergence of novel tumor-targeted nanocarriers, the applications of DiR in the development of fluorescent or multifunctional nano-probes for in vivo tumor imaging are also reported. In these studies, DiR-loaded nanocarriers have resulted in good fluorescence images, indicating the great potential of this dye. However, some important issues about DiR-loaded nanocarriers were often overlooked. These issues include the in vivo fluorescent properties, stability, toxicity, retention and metabolization of DiR-loaded nanocarriers. This review introduced the current use and the properties of DiR-loaded nanocarriers for in vivo tumor imaging. The perspective outlook at the last section highlights the future application of DiR-loaded nanocarriers.
authors.forename: Hao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Biomedical Information Engineering of Education Ministry, School of Life Science and Technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China. wudaocheng@mail.xjtu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Daocheng
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002232:Carbocyanines / Q000737:chemistry*; D003952:Diagnostic Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D004337:Drug Carriers / Q000737:chemistry*; D005453:Fluorescence; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry; D019265:Spectroscopy, Near-Infrared / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: C574020:1,1'-dioctadecyl-3,3,3',3'-tetramethylindotricarbocyanine; D002232:Carbocyanines; D004337:Drug Carriers; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes