College of Polymer Science and Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Polymer Materials Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
Sports Medicine Center, Department of Orthopedic Surgery and Orthopedic Research Institute, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
Nat Commun. 2024 Nov 21;15(1):10078. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-54473-x.
Nonaromatic and nonconjugated fluorescent materials have garnered increasing attention in recent years. However, most non-classical chromophores are derived from electro-rich nitrogen and oxygen atoms, which suffer from short emission wavelengths, low efficiency, limited responsiveness, and obscure luminescence mechanisms. Here we present an emission mechanism in bioactive polycysteine, an aliphatic polymer that displays polymerization- and aggregation-induced emission, high quantum yield, and multicolor emission properties. We show that the hydrogen atoms bonded to the sulfur atoms play a crucial role in luminescence. This enables reversible modulation of polymer fluorescence under reducing and oxidizing conditions, facilitating specific imaging and quantitative detection of redox species in cells and in vivo. Furthermore, the polymer exhibits better anti-inflammatory and antioxidative activities compared to first-line clinical antioxidants, offering a promising platform for in vivo theragnosis of diseases such as osteoarthritis.
近年来，非芳香族和非共轭荧光材料受到了越来越多的关注。然而，大多数非经典生色团都源自富电子的氮和氧原子，这些原子具有发射波长短、效率低、响应性有限以及发光机制不明确等缺点。在这里，我们提出了一种在生物活性聚半胱氨酸中的发光机制，聚半胱氨酸是一种显示聚合诱导和聚集诱导发射、高量子产率和多色发射特性的脂肪族聚合物。我们表明，与硫原子键合的氢原子在发光中起着关键作用。这使得聚合物荧光在还原和氧化条件下可以进行可逆调节，从而能够在细胞和体内特异性地成像和定量检测氧化还原物质。此外，与一线临床抗氧化剂相比，该聚合物表现出更好的抗炎和抗氧化活性，为骨关节炎等疾病的体内治疗诊断提供了一个有前途的平台。
