1. Intracellular self-assembly of TPE-biotin nanoparticles enables aggregation-induced emission fluorescence for cancer-targeted imaging
- Author
-
Yi-fei Xu and Jin-hui Jiang
- Subjects
Nanoparticle ,02 engineering and technology ,Tetraphenylethylene ,010402 general chemistry ,021001 nanoscience & nanotechnology ,01 natural sciences ,Fluorescence ,0104 chemical sciences ,chemistry.chemical_compound ,chemistry ,Biotin ,Biotinylation ,Cancer cell ,Biophysics ,Self-assembly ,Physical and Theoretical Chemistry ,0210 nano-technology ,Intracellular - Abstract
Fluorogens with aggregation-induced emission (AIE) characteristics have recently been widely applied for studying biological events, and fluorogens with “smart” properties are especially desirable. Herein, we rationally designed and synthesized a biotinylated and reduction-activatable probe (Cys(StBu)-Lys(biotin)-Lys(TPE)-CBT (1)) with AIE properties for cancer-targeted imaging. The biotinylated probe 1 can be actively uptaken by the biotin receptor-overexpressing cancer cells, and then “smartly” self-assemble into nanoparticles inside cells and turn the fluorescence “On”. Employing this “smart” strategy, we successfully applied probe 1 for cancer-targeted imaging. We envision that this biotinylated intelligent probe 1 might be further developed for cancer-targeted imaging in routine clinical studies in the near future.
- Published
- 2018