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Biocompatible organic dots with aggregation-induced emission for in vitro and in vivo fluorescence imaging

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  • Special Topic Aggregated-Induced Emission
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Abstract

Fluorescent probes play a key role in modern biomedical research. As compared to inorganic quantum dots (QDs) composed with heavy metal elements, organic dye-based fluorescent nanoparticles have higher biocompatibility and are richer in variety. However, traditional organic fluorophores tend to quench fluorescence upon aggregation, which is known as aggregation-caused quenching (ACQ) effect that hinders the fabrication of highly emissive fluorescent nanoparticles. In this work, we demonstrate the synthesis of organic fluorescent dots with aggregation-induced emission (AIE) in far-red/near-infrared (FA/NIR) region. A conventional ACQ-characteristic fluorescent dye, 3,4:9,10-tetracarboxylic perylene bisimide (PBI), is converted into an AIE fluorogen through attaching two tetraphenylethylene (TPE) moieties. The fluorescent dots with surface folic acid groups are fabricated from PBI derivative (DTPEPBI), showing specific targeting effect to folate receptor-overexpressed cancer cells. In vivo studies also suggest that the folic acid-functionalized AIE dots preferentially accumulate in the tumor site through enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect and folate receptor-mediated active targeting effect. The low cytotoxicity, good FR/NIR contrast and excellent targeting ability in in vitro/in vivo imaging indicate that the AIE dots have great potentials in advanced bioimaging applications.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Materials Research and Engineering, 3 Research Link, Singapore, 117602, Singapore

    Kai Li & Bin Liu

  2. Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, National University of Singapore, 4 Engineering Drive 4, Singapore, 117576, Singapore

    Dan Ding & Bin Liu

  3. MOE Key Laboratory of Macromolecule Synthesis & Functionalization, Institute of Biomedical Macromolecules, Department of Polymer Science & Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310027, China

    QiuLi Zhao & JingZhi Sun

  4. Department of Chemistry, The Hong Kong University of Science & Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China

    Ben Zhong Tang

  5. SCUT-HKUST Joint Research Laboratory; State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510640, China

    Ben Zhong Tang

Authors
  1. Kai Li
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  2. Dan Ding
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  3. QiuLi Zhao
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  4. JingZhi Sun
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  5. Ben Zhong Tang
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  6. Bin Liu
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Correspondence to Bin Liu.

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Li, K., Ding, D., Zhao, Q. et al. Biocompatible organic dots with aggregation-induced emission for in vitro and in vivo fluorescence imaging. Sci. China Chem. 56, 1228–1233 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11426-013-4936-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11426-013-4936-3

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