School of Pharmaceutical Science, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510006, China.
Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510006, China.
Int J Mol Sci. 2021 Aug 19;22(16):8949. doi: 10.3390/ijms22168949.
Fluorophores with aggregation-induced emission enhancement (AIEE) properties have attracted increasing interest in recent years. On the basis of our previous research, we successfully designed and synthesized eleven chalcones. Through an optical performance experiment, we confirmed that compounds - had obvious AIEE properties. As these AIEE molecules had excellent fluorescence properties and a large Stokes shift, we studied their application in living cell imaging, and the results showed that these compounds had low cytotoxicity and good biocompatibility at the experimental concentrations. More importantly, they could specifically label mitochondria. Subsequently, we selected zebrafish as experimental animals to explore the possibilities of these compounds in animal imaging. The fluorescence imaging of zebrafish showed that these AIEE molecules can enter the embryo and can be targeted to aggregate in the digestive tract, which provides a strong foundation for their practical application in the field of biological imaging. Compared with traditional fluorophores, these AIEE molecules have the advantages of possessing a small molecular weight and high flexibility. Therefore, they have excellent application prospects in the field of biological imaging. In addition, the findings of this study have very positive practical significance for the discovery of more AIEE molecules.
具有聚集诱导发光增强（AIEE）性质的荧光团近年来引起了越来越多的关注。基于我们之前的研究，我们成功设计并合成了 11 种查尔酮。通过光学性能实验，我们证实化合物 - 具有明显的 AIEE 性质。由于这些 AIEE 分子具有出色的荧光性质和较大的斯托克斯位移，我们研究了它们在活细胞成像中的应用，结果表明，在实验浓度下，这些化合物具有低细胞毒性和良好的生物相容性。更重要的是，它们可以特异性标记线粒体。随后，我们选择斑马鱼作为实验动物，以探索这些化合物在动物成像中的可能性。斑马鱼的荧光成像表明，这些 AIEE 分子可以进入胚胎，并可以靶向聚集在消化道中，这为它们在生物成像领域的实际应用提供了坚实的基础。与传统荧光团相比，这些 AIEE 分子具有分子量小、灵活性高的优点。因此，它们在生物成像领域具有极好的应用前景。此外，本研究的发现对于发现更多的 AIEE 分子具有非常积极的实际意义。
