State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Beijing Key Laboratory of Environmentally Harmful Chemical Analysis, Beijing University of Chemical Technology , Beijing 100029, People's Republic of China.
Department of Chemistry, University of Bath , Claverton Down, Bath, BA2 7AY, United Kingdom.
Anal Chem. 2016 Aug 2;88(15):7853-7. doi: 10.1021/acs.analchem.6b02032. Epub 2016 Jul 12.
The use of fluorescence probes for biomedical imaging has attracted significant attention over recent years owing to their high resolution at cellular level. The probes are available in many formats including small particle size based imaging agents which are considered to be promising candidates, due to their excellent stabilities. Yet, concerns over the potential cytotoxicity effects of inorganic luminescent particles have led to questions about their suitability for imaging applications. Exploration of alternatives inspired us to use organic fluorophores with aggregation-induced emission (AIE), prepared by functionalizing the amine group on tetraphenylethene with 3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl isocyanate. The as-synthesized novel AIE fluorophore (TPE-F) display enhanced quantum yield and longer lifetime as compared with its counterparts (4,4',4″,4‴-(ethene-1,1,2,2-tetrayl)tetraaniline, TPE-AM). Furthermore, the TPE-F was encapsulated into small-size organic nanoparticles (NPs; dynamic light scattering size, ∼10 nm) with polysuccinimide (PSI). The biocompatibility, excellent stability, bright fluorescence, and selective cell targeting of these NPs enable the as-prepared TPE-F NPs to be suitable for specific fluorescence cell imaging.
近年来，由于荧光探针在细胞水平上具有高分辨率，因此在生物医学成像中的应用受到了广泛关注。探针有多种形式，包括被认为是有前途的候选物的小颗粒尺寸成像剂，由于其优异的稳定性。然而，无机发光颗粒潜在的细胞毒性问题引起了人们对其在成像应用中适用性的质疑。对替代品的探索促使我们使用具有聚集诱导发射（AIE）特性的有机荧光团，方法是在四苯乙烯的氨基上用 3,5-双（三氟甲基）苯基异氰酸酯进行功能化。与同类物（4,4',4″,4‴-(乙烯-1,1,2,2-四基)四苯胺，TPE-AM）相比，合成的新型 AIE 荧光团（TPE-F）显示出增强的量子产率和更长的寿命。此外，TPE-F 被包裹在具有聚琥珀酰亚胺（PSI）的小尺寸有机纳米颗粒（NPs；动态光散射尺寸，∼10nm）中。这些 NPs 的生物相容性、优异的稳定性、明亮的荧光和对特定细胞的靶向性使制备的 TPE-F NPs 适用于特定的荧光细胞成像。
