Wang Haolu, Yang Haotian, Xu Zhi Ping, Liu Xin, Roberts Michael S, Liang Xiaowen
Therapeutics Research Group, The University of Queensland Diamantina Institute, The University of Queensland, Translational Research Institute, Brisbane, QLD 4102, Australia.
Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia.
Pharmaceutics. 2018 Nov 20;10(4):244. doi: 10.3390/pharmaceutics10040244.
A major impediment to the long-term in vivo vascular imaging is a lack of suitable probes and contrast agents. Our developed mercaptosuccinic acid (MSA) capped cadmium telluride/cadmium sulfide (CdTe/CdS) ultrasmall quantum dots (QDs) have high fluorescent quantum yield, long fluorescence lifetime and long half-life in blood, allowing high resolution long-term intravital vascular imaging. In this study, we showed that these QDs can be used to visualize the in vivo the vasculature in normal and cancerous livers in mice using multiphoton microscopy (MPM) coupled with fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLIM), with cellular resolution (~1 µm) up to 36 h after intravenous injection. Compared to highly regulated and controlled sinusoids in normal liver tissue, disordered, tortuous, and immature neovessels were observed in tumors. The utilized imaging methods have great potential as emerging tools in diagnosis and monitoring of treatment response in cancer.
长期进行体内血管成像的一个主要障碍是缺乏合适的探针和造影剂。我们研发的巯基琥珀酸（MSA）包覆的碲化镉/硫化镉（CdTe/CdS）超小量子点（QDs）具有高荧光量子产率、长荧光寿命和在血液中的长半衰期，可实现高分辨率的长期活体血管成像。在本研究中，我们表明，这些量子点可用于通过多光子显微镜（MPM）结合荧光寿命成像（FLIM），在小鼠体内可视化正常肝脏和癌性肝脏中的脉管系统，静脉注射后长达36小时内具有细胞分辨率（约1 µm）。与正常肝组织中高度规则且受控的窦状隙相比，肿瘤中观察到无序、迂曲和不成熟的新生血管。所采用的成像方法作为癌症诊断和治疗反应监测的新兴工具具有巨大潜力。
