State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha, 410082, China.
Nat Commun. 2023 Apr 3;14(1):1843. doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-37586-7.
J-aggregation, an effective strategy to extend wavelength, has been considered as a promising method for constructing NIR-II fluorophores. However, due to weak intermolecular interactions, conventional J-aggregates are easily decomposed into monomers in the biological environment. Although adding external carriers could help conventional J-aggregates stabilize, such methods still suffer from high-concentration dependence and are unsuitable for activatable probes design. Besides, these carriers-assisted nanoparticles are risky of disassembly in lipophilic environment. Herein, by fusing the precipitated dye (HPQ) which has orderly self-assembly structure, onto simple hemi-cyanine conjugated system, we construct a series of activatable, high-stability NIR-II-J-aggregates which overcome conventional J-aggregates carrier's dependence and could in situ self-assembly in vivo. Further, we employ the NIR-II-J-aggregates probe HPQ-Zzh-B to achieve the long-term in situ imaging of tumor and precise tumor resection by NIR-II imaging navigation for reducing lung metastasis. We believe this strategy will advance the development of controllable NIR-II-J-aggregates and precise bioimaging in vivo.
J-聚集是一种有效的波长延伸策略，被认为是构建近红外二区（NIR-II）荧光团的一种很有前途的方法。然而，由于分子间相互作用较弱，传统的 J-聚集物在生物环境中容易分解为单体。虽然添加外部载体可以帮助传统的 J-聚集物稳定，但这些方法仍然存在高浓度依赖性的问题，不适合设计可激活的探针。此外，这些载体辅助的纳米粒子在亲脂性环境中容易解体。在这里，我们通过将具有有序自组装结构的沉淀染料（HPQ）融合到简单的半菁共轭体系上，构建了一系列可激活、高稳定性的 NIR-II-J-聚集物，克服了传统 J-聚集物对载体的依赖性，并可以在体内原位自组装。此外，我们使用 NIR-II-J-聚集物探针 HPQ-Zzh-B 实现了肿瘤的长期原位成像，并通过 NIR-II 成像导航进行精确肿瘤切除，以减少肺转移。我们相信，这种策略将推动可控 NIR-II-J-聚集物和精确体内生物成像的发展。
