IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v14y2023i1d10.1038_s41467-023-40728-6.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Engineered NIR-II fluorophores with ultralong-distance molecular packing for high-contrast deep lesion identification

Author

Listed:
  • Zhe Feng

    (Zhejiang University)

  • Yuanyuan Li

    (Jilin University)

  • Siyi Chen

    (Zhejiang University)

  • Jin Li

    (Zhejiang University)

  • Tianxiang Wu

    (Zhejiang University)

  • Yanyun Ying

    (Zhejiang University School of Medicine)

  • Junyan Zheng

    (Zhejiang University School of Medicine)

  • Yuhuang Zhang

    (Zhejiang University)

  • Jianquan Zhang

    (The Chinese University of Hong Kong)

  • Xiaoxiao Fan

    (Zhejiang University)

  • Xiaoming Yu

    (Zhejiang University School of Medicine)

  • Dan Zhang

    (Zhejiang University School of Medicine)

  • Ben Zhong Tang

    (The Chinese University of Hong Kong)

  • Jun Qian

    (Zhejiang University)

Abstract

The limited signal of long-wavelength near-infrared-II (NIR-II, 900–1880 nm) fluorophores and the strong background caused by the diffused photons make high-contrast fluorescence imaging in vivo with deep tissue disturbed still challenging. Here, we develop NIR-II fluorescent small molecules with aggregation-induced emission properties, high brightness, and maximal emission beyond 1200 nm by enhancing electron-donating ability and reducing the donor-acceptor (D-A) distance, to complement the scarce bright long-wavelength emissive organic dyes. The convincing single-crystal evidence of D-A-D molecular structure reveals the strong inhibition of the π-π stacking with ultralong molecular packing distance exceeding 8 Å. The delicately-designed nanofluorophores with bright fluorescent signals extending to 1900 nm match the background-suppressed imaging window, enabling the signal-to-background ratio of the tissue image to reach over 100 with the tissue thickness of ~4–6 mm. In addition, the intraluminal lesions with strong negatively stained can be identified with almost zero background. This method can provide new avenues for future long-wavelength NIR-II molecular design and biomedical imaging of deep and highly scattering tissues.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhe Feng & Yuanyuan Li & Siyi Chen & Jin Li & Tianxiang Wu & Yanyun Ying & Junyan Zheng & Yuhuang Zhang & Jianquan Zhang & Xiaoxiao Fan & Xiaoming Yu & Dan Zhang & Ben Zhong Tang & Jun Qian, 2023. "Engineered NIR-II fluorophores with ultralong-distance molecular packing for high-contrast deep lesion identification," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-14, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:14:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-023-40728-6
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-40728-6
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-40728-6
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41467-023-40728-6?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Yuanyuan Li & Zhaochong Cai & Shunjie Liu & Haoke Zhang & Sherman T. H. Wong & Jacky W. Y. Lam & Ryan T. K. Kwok & Jun Qian & Ben Zhong Tang, 2020. "Design of AIEgens for near-infrared IIb imaging through structural modulation at molecular and morphological levels," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 11(1), pages 1-10, December.
    2. Junjie Chen & Longqi Chen & Yinglong Wu & Yichang Fang & Fang Zeng & Shuizhu Wu & Yanli Zhao, 2021. "A H2O2-activatable nanoprobe for diagnosing interstitial cystitis and liver ischemia-reperfusion injury via multispectral optoacoustic tomography and NIR-II fluorescent imaging," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-15, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Yulei Chang & Haoren Chen & Xiaoyu Xie & Yong Wan & Qiqing Li & Fengxia Wu & Run Yang & Wang Wang & Xianggui Kong, 2023. "Bright Tm3+-based downshifting luminescence nanoprobe operating around 1800 nm for NIR-IIb and c bioimaging," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-9, December.
    2. Junjie Chen & Longqi Chen & Yinglong Wu & Yichang Fang & Fang Zeng & Shuizhu Wu & Yanli Zhao, 2021. "A H2O2-activatable nanoprobe for diagnosing interstitial cystitis and liver ischemia-reperfusion injury via multispectral optoacoustic tomography and NIR-II fluorescent imaging," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-15, December.
    3. Ani Baghdasaryan & Feifei Wang & Fuqiang Ren & Zhuoran Ma & Jiachen Li & Xueting Zhou & Lilit Grigoryan & Chun Xu & Hongjie Dai, 2022. "Phosphorylcholine-conjugated gold-molecular clusters improve signal for Lymph Node NIR-II fluorescence imaging in preclinical cancer models," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-11, December.
    4. Rui Tian & Xin Feng & Long Wei & Daoguo Dai & Ying Ma & Haifeng Pan & Shengxiang Ge & Lang Bai & Chaomin Ke & Yanlin Liu & Lixin Lang & Shoujun Zhu & Haitao Sun & Yanbao Yu & Xiaoyuan Chen, 2022. "A genetic engineering strategy for editing near-infrared-II fluorophores," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-15, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:14:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-023-40728-6. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.