Jo Gayoung, Park Yoonbin, Park Min Ho, Hyun Hoon
Department of Biomedical Sciences, Chonnam National University Medical School, Hwasun 58128, Republic of Korea.
BioMedical Sciences Graduate Program (BMSGP), Chonnam National University, Hwasun 58128, Republic of Korea.
Materials (Basel). 2023 Nov 18;16(22):7227. doi: 10.3390/ma16227227.
The near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence imaging modality has great potential for application in biomedical imaging research owing to its unique characteristics, such as low tissue autofluorescence and noninvasive visualization with high spatial resolution. Although a variety of NIR fluorophores are continuously reported, the commercially available NIR fluorophores are still limited, owing to complex synthetic processes and poor physicochemical properties. To address this issue, a small molecular NIR fluorophore (SMF800) was designed and developed in the present work to improve in vivo target-specific fluorescence imaging. After conjugation with pamidronate (PAM) and bovine serum albumin (BSA), the SMF800 conjugates exhibited successful in vivo targeting in bone and tumor tissues with low background uptake, respectively. The improved in vivo performance of the SMF800 conjugate demonstrated that the small molecular NIR fluorophore SMF800 can be widely used in a much broader range of imaging applications. The structure of SMF800, which was developed by considering two important physicochemical properties, water solubility and conjugatability, is first introduced. Therefore, this work suggests a simple and rational approach to design small, hydrophilic, and conjugatable NIR fluorophores for targeted bioimaging.
近红外（NIR）荧光成像模式因其独特的特性，如低组织自发荧光和高空间分辨率的无创可视化，在生物医学成像研究中具有巨大的应用潜力。尽管不断有各种近红外荧光团被报道，但由于合成过程复杂且物理化学性质不佳，市售的近红外荧光团仍然有限。为了解决这个问题，本研究设计并开发了一种小分子近红外荧光团（SMF800），以改善体内靶向特异性荧光成像。与帕米膦酸盐（PAM）和牛血清白蛋白（BSA）偶联后，SMF800偶联物分别在骨组织和肿瘤组织中成功实现了体内靶向，且背景摄取较低。SMF800偶联物体内性能的改善表明，小分子近红外荧光团SMF800可广泛应用于更广泛的成像应用中。首先介绍了通过考虑水溶性和可偶联性这两个重要物理化学性质而开发的SMF800的结构。因此，这项工作提出了一种简单合理的方法来设计用于靶向生物成像的小尺寸、亲水性和可偶联的近红外荧光团。
