Abstract
In vivo fluorescence imaging in the second near-infrared window (NIR-II window, 1000–1700 nm) is a powerful imaging technique that emerged in recent years. This imaging tool allows for noninvasive, deep-tissue visualization and interrogation of anatomical features and functions with improved imaging resolution and contrast at greater tissue penetration depths than traditional fluorescence imaging. Here, we present the detailed protocol for conducting NIR-II fluorescence imaging in live animals, including the procedures for preparation of biocompatible and NIR-II fluorescent carbon nanotube solution, live animal administration and NIR-II fluorescence image acquisition.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Hillman EMC, Moore A (2007) All-optical anatomical co-registration for molecular imaging of small animals using dynamic contrast. Nat Photonics 1(9):526–530
Welsher K, Sherlock SP, Dai HJ (2011) Deep-tissue anatomical imaging of mice using carbon nanotube fluorophores in the second near-infrared window. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 108(22):8943–8948
Ye DJ, Shuhendler AJ, Cui LN, Tong L, Tee SS, Tikhomirov G, Felsher DW, Rao JH (2014) Bioorthogonal cyclization-mediated in situ self-assembly of small-molecule probes for imaging caspase activity in vivo. Nat Chem 6(6):519–526
Hilderbrand SA, Weissleder R (2010) Near-infrared fluorescence: application to in vivo molecular imaging. Curr Opin Chem Biol 14(1):71–79
Blow N (2009) In vivo molecular imaging: the inside job. Nat Methods 6(6):465–469
Grewe BF, Langer D, Kasper H, Kampa BM, Helmchen F (2010) High-speed in vivo calcium imaging reveals neuronal network activity with near-millisecond precision. Nat Methods 7(5):399–405
Nguyen QT, Schroeder LF, Mank M, Muller A, Taylor P, Griesbeck O, Kleinfeld D (2010) An in vivo biosensor for neurotransmitter release and in situ receptor activity. Nat Neurosci 13(1):127–132
Marvin JS, Borghuis BG, Tian L, Cichon J, Harnett MT, Akerboom J, Gordus A, Renninger SL, Chen TW, Bargmann CI, Orger MB, Schreiter ER, Demb JB, Gan WB, Hires SA, Looger LL (2013) An optimized fluorescent probe for visualizing glutamate neurotransmission. Nat Methods 10(2):162–170
Chen Q, Cichon J, Wang WT, Qiu L, Lee SJR, Campbell NR, DeStefino N, Goard MJ, Fu ZY, Yasuda R, Looger LL, Arenkiel BR, Gan WB, Feng GP (2012) Imaging neural activity using Thy1-GCaMP transgenic mice. Neuron 76(2):297–308
Trachtenberg JT, Chen BE, Knott GW, Feng GP, Sanes JR, Welker E, Svoboda K (2002) Long-term in vivo imaging of experience-dependent synaptic plasticity in adult cortex. Nature 420(6917):788–794
Gao JH, Chen K, Luong R, Bouley DM, Mao H, Qiao TC, Gambhir SS, Cheng Z (2012) A novel clinically translatable fluorescent nanoparticle for targeted molecular imaging of tumors in living subjects. Nano Lett 12(1):281–286
Shuhendler AJ, Pu KY, Cui L, Uetrecht JP, Rao JH (2014) Real-time imaging of oxidative and nitrosative stress in the liver of live animals for drug-toxicity testing. Nat Biotechnol 32(4):373–380
Weissleder R, Tung CH, Mahmood U, Bogdanov A (1999) In vivo imaging of tumors with protease-activated near-infrared fluorescent probes. Nat Biotechnol 17(4):375–378
Zhang XL, Tian YL, Li Z, Tian XY, Sun HB, Liu H, Moore A, Ran CZ (2013) Design and synthesis of curcumin analogues for in vivo fluorescence imaging and inhibiting copper-induced cross-linking of amyloid beta species in Alzheimer's disease. J Am Chem Soc 135(44):16397–16409
Sosnovik DE, Nahrendorf M, Deliolanis N, Novikov M, Aikawa E, Josephson L, Rosenzweig A, Weissleder R, Ntziachristos V (2007) Fluorescence tomography and magnetic resonance imaging of myocardial macrophage infiltration in infarcted myocardium in vivo. Circulation 115(11):1384–1391
Rao JH, Dragulescu-Andrasi A, Yao HQ, Yao HQ (2007) Fluorescence imaging in vivo: recent advances. Curr Opin Biotechnol 18(1):17–25
Lim YT, Kim S, Nakayama A, Stott NE, Bawendi MG, Frangioni JV (2003) Selection of quantum dot wavelengths for biomedical assays and imaging. Mol Imaging 2(1):50–64
Bashkatov AN, Genina EA, Kochubey VI, Tuchin VV (2005) Optical properties of human skin, subcutaneous and mucous tissues in the wavelength range from 400 to 2000 nm. J Phys D Appl Phys 38(15):2543–2555
Bashkatov AN, Genina EA, Kochubey VI, Tuchin VV (2006) Optical properties of human cranial bone in the spectral range from 800 to 2000 nm - art. no. 616310. Saratov Fall Meeting 2005: Optical technologies in biophysics and medicine VII.6163: 16310
Horton NG, Wang K, Kobat D, Clark CG, Wise FW, Schaffer CB, Xu C (2013) In vivo three-photon microscopy of subcortical structures within an intact mouse brain. Nat Photonics 7(3):205–209
Bashkatov AN, Genina EA, Tuchin VV (2011) Optical properties of skin, subcutaneous, and muscle tissues: a review. J Innov Opt Health Sci 4(1):9–38
Villa I, Vedda A, Cantarelli IX, Pedroni M, Piccinelli F, Bettinelli M, Speghini A, Quintanilla M, Vetrone F, Rocha U, Jacinto C, Carrasco E, Rodríguez FS, Juarranz Á, del Rosal B, Ortgies DH, Gonzalez PH, Solé JG, Jaque GD (2015) 1.3 μm emitting SrF2: Nd3+ nanoparticles for high contrast in vivo imaging in the second biological window. Nano Res 8(2):649–665
Welsher K, Liu Z, Sherlock SP, Robinson JT, Chen Z, Daranciang D, Dai HJ (2009) A route to brightly fluorescent carbon nanotubes for near-infrared imaging in mice. Nat Nanotechnol 4(11):773–780
Robinson JT, Welsher K, Tabakman SM, Sherlock SP, Wang HL, Luong R, Dai HJ (2010) High performance in vivo near-IR (>1 μm) imaging and photothermal cancer therapy with carbon nanotubes. Nano Res 3(11):779–793
Robinson JT, Hong GS, Liang YY, Zhang B, Yaghi OK, Dai HJ (2012) In vivo fluorescence imaging in the second near-infrared window with long circulating carbon nanotubes capable of ultrahigh tumor uptake. J Am Chem Soc 134(25):10664–10669
Hong GS, Lee JC, Robinson JT, Raaz U, Xie LM, Huang NF, Cooke JP, Dai HJ (2012) Multifunctional in vivo vascular imaging using near-infrared II fluorescence. Nat Med 18(12):1841
Diao S, Hong GS, Robinson JT, Jiao LY, Antaris AL, Wu JZ, Choi CL, Dai HJ (2012) Chirality enriched (12,1) and (11,3) single-walled carbon nanotubes for biological imaging. J Am Chem Soc 134(41):16971–16974
Antaris AL, Robinson JT, Yaghi OK, Hong GS, Diao S, Luong R, Dai HJ (2013) Ultra-low doses of chirality sorted (6,5) carbon nanotubes for simultaneous tumor imaging and photothermal therapy. ACS Nano 7(4):3644–3652
Hong GS, Diao S, Chang J, Antaris AL, Chen C, Zhang B, Zhao S, Atochin DN, Huang PL, Andreasson KI, Kuo CJ, Dai HJ (2014) Through-skull fluorescence imaging of the brain in a new near-infrared window. Nat Photonics 8:723–730
Hong GS, Lee JC, Jha A, Diao S, Nakayama KH, Hou LQ, Doyle TC, Robinson JT, Antaris AL, Dai HJ, Cooke JP, Huang NF (2014) Near-infrared II fluorescence for imaging hindlimb vessel regeneration with dynamic tissue perfusion measurement. Circ Cardiovasc Imaging 7(3):517–525
Yi HJ, Ghosh D, Ham MH, Qi JF, Barone PW, Strano MS, Belcher AM (2012) M13 phage-functionalized single-walled carbon nanotubes as nanoprobes for second near-infrared window fluorescence imaging of targeted tumors. Nano Lett 12(3):1176–1183
Bardhan NM, Ghosh D, Belcher AM (2014) Carbon nanotubes as in vivo bacterial probes. Nat Commun 5:4918
Ghosh D, Bagley AF, Na YJ, Birrer MJ, Bhatia SN, Belcher AM (2014) Deep, noninvasive imaging and surgical guidance of submillimeter tumors using targeted M13-stabilized single-walled carbon nanotubes. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 111(38):13948–13953
Zhang Y, Hong GS, Zhang YJ, Chen GC, Li F, Dai HJ, Wang QB (2012) Ag2S quantum dot: a bright and biocompatible fluorescent nanoprobe in the second near-infrared window. ACS Nano 6(5):3695–3702
Hong GS, Robinson JT, Zhang YJ, Diao S, Antaris AL, Wang QB, Dai HJ (2012) In vivo fluorescence imaging with Ag2S quantum dots in the second near-infrared region. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 51(39):9818–9821
Zhang Y, Zhang YJ, Hong GS, He W, Zhou K, Yang K, Li F, Chen GC, Liu Z, Dai HJ, Wang QB (2013) Biodistribution, pharmacokinetics and toxicology of Ag2S near-infrared quantum dots in mice. Biomaterials 34(14):3639–3646
Dong BH, Li CY, Chen GC, Zhang YJ, Zhang Y, Deng MJ, Wang QB (2013) Facile synthesis of highly photoluminescent Ag2Se quantum dots as a new fluorescent probe in the second near-infrared window for in vivo imaging. Chem Mater 25(12):2503–2509
Chen GC, Tian F, Zhang Y, Zhang YJ, Li CY, Wang QB (2014) Tracking of transplanted human mesenchymal stem cells in living mice using near-infrared Ag-2 S quantum dots. Adv Funct Mater 24(17):2481–2488
Li CY, Zhang YJ, Wang M, Zhang Y, Chen GC, Li L, Wu DM, Wang QB (2014) In vivo real-time visualization of tissue blood flow and angiogenesis using Ag2S quantum dots in the NIR-II window. Biomaterials 35(1):393–400
Hu F, Li C, Zhang Y, Wang M, Wu D, Wang Q (2015) Real-time in vivo visualization of tumor therapy by a near-infrared-II Ag2S quantum dot-based theranostic nanoplatform. Nano Res 8(5):1637–1647
Tsukasaki Y, Morimatsu M, Nishimura G, Sakata T, Yasuda H, Komatsuzaki A, Watanabe TM, Jin T (2014) Synthesis and optical properties of emission-tunable PbS/CdS core-shell quantum dots for in vivo fluorescence imaging in the second near-infrared window. Rsc Adv 4(77):41164–41171
Tsukasaki Y, Komatsuzaki A, Mori Y, Ma Q, Yoshioka Y, Jin T (2014) A short-wavelength infrared emitting multimodal probe for non-invasive visualization of phagocyte cell migration in living mice. Chem Commun 50(92): 14356–14359
Nakane Y, Tsukasaki Y, Sakata T, Yasuda H, Jin T (2013) Aqueous synthesis of glutathione-coated PbS quantum dots with tunable emission for non-invasive fluorescence imaging in the second near-infrared biological window (1000-1400 nm). Chem Commun 49(69): 7584–7586
Naczynski DJ, Tan MC, Zevon M, Wall B, Kohl J, Kulesa A, Chen S, Roth CM, Riman RE, Moghe PV (2013) Rare-earth-doped biological composites as in vivo shortwave infrared reporters. Nat Commun 4:2199
Naczynski DJ, Sun C, Türkcan S, Jenkins C, Koh AL, Ikeda D, Pratx G, Xing L (2015) X-ray induced shortwave infrared biomedical imaging using rare-earth nanoprobes. Nano Lett 15(1):96–102
Rocha U, Kumar KU, Jacinto C, Villa I, Sanz-Rodriguez F, de la Cruz MDI, Juarranz A, Carrasco E, van Veggel FCJM, Bovero E, Sole JG, Jaque D (2014) Neodymium-doped LaF (3) nanoparticles for fluorescence bioimaging in the second biological window. Small 10(6):1141–1154
Hong GS, Zou YP, Antaris AL, Diao S, Wu D, Cheng K, Zhang XD, Chen CX, Liu B, He YH, Wu JZ, Yuan J, Zhang B, Tao ZM, Fukunaga C, Dai HJ (2014) Ultrafast fluorescence imaging in vivo with conjugated polymer fluorophores in the second near-infrared window. Nat Commun 5:4206
Tao ZM, Hong GS, Shinji C, Chen CX, Diao S, Antaris AL, Zhang B, Zou YP, Dai HJ (2013) Biological imaging using nanoparticles of small organic molecules with fluorescence emission at wavelengths longer than 1000 nm. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 52(49):13002–13006
Kam NWS, O'Connell M, Wisdom JA, Dai HJ (2005) Carbon nanotubes as multifunctional biological transporters and near-infrared agents for selective cancer cell destruction. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 102(33): 11600–11605
Matthes R, Cain CP, Courant D, Freund DA, Grossman BA, Kennedy PA, Lund DJ, Mainster MA, Manenkov AA, Marshall WJ, McCally R, Rockwell BA, Sliney DH, Smith PA, Stuck BE, Tell SA, Wolbarsht ML, Zheltov GI, Cheney F, McLin L, Ness J, Schulmeister K, Steinman RM, Sutter E, Zwick H, Protect I.C.N.-I.R (2000) Revision of guidelines on limits of exposure to laser radiation of wavelengths between 400 nm and 1.4 μm. Health Phys 79(4):431–440
Acknowledgments
We thank members from the Dai lab, in particular Shuo Diao, Alexander L. Antaris, and Dr. Xiaodong Zhang for helpful discussion and support. This study is supported by grants from the National Cancer Institute of US National Institute of Health to H.D. (5R01CA135109-02).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this protocol
Cite this protocol
Hong, G., Dai, H. (2016). In Vivo Fluorescence Imaging in the Second Near-Infrared Window Using Carbon Nanotubes. In: Bai, M. (eds) In Vivo Fluorescence Imaging. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 1444. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-3721-9_15
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-3721-9_15
Published:
Publisher Name: Humana Press, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-3719-6
Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-3721-9
eBook Packages: Springer Protocols