Family of hNQO1 Activatable Near-Infrared Fluoro-Photoacoustic Probes for Diagnosis of Wound Infection and Ulcerative Colitis

Abstract

Bacterial infections can easily occur when patients mishandle wounds or eat moldy food. The prompt diagnosis of a bacterial infection could effectively reduce the risk of possible anatomical damage. However, non-invasive early detection of bacterial infections is difficult to achieve due to the lack of favorable tools. Here, we designed two hNQO1 fluorescent probes (RX2 and RX3) to visualize bacterial infection after deep learning on the pathogenesis of bacterial infection. RX2 and RX3 enable early detection of bacterial infection and are verified to be, respectively, suitable for fluorescence imaging (FLI) and photoacoustic imaging (PAI) by comparing the signal-to-background ratio of both probes in a mouse model of myositis caused by Escherichia coli infection. In view of the difference in penetration depth between the two imaging modalities, we further applied RX2 for FLI of E. coli-infected wounds and RX3 for PAI of E. coli-infected inflammatory bowel disease, suggesting the great potential of both probes for early diagnosis of bacterial infections.

Bioimaging of glutathione variation for early diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma using a liver-targeting ratiometric near-infrared fluorescent probe

“…29 The absorption coefficients of heme, water, lipids, and the major absorbers are higher in the visible and infrared light regions but lower in the NIR region around 650-900 nm. [30][31][32][33] Therefore, a cyanine fluorophore bearing ketone (Keto-Cy) was selected as the NIR fluorescence signal transducer. To achieve the livertargeting capability, the probe introduced the galactose terminated ligand which could be selectively identified by the asialoglycoprotein receptor (ASGP-R), due to its specific expression on the plasma membrane of mammalian liver cells.…”

Carbon Monoxide: A Second Biomarker to Couple with Viscosity for the Construction of “Dual-Locked” Near-Infrared Fluorescent Probes for Accurately Diagnosing Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

“…Fluorescent sensors have flourished in disease diagnosis in recent years due to their noninvasiveness, high sensitivity, and good selectivity. − In the pathogenesis of NAFLD, excessive accumulation of lipids in hepatocytes is accompanied by the alterations in the intracellular microenvironment. − The viscosity increase in a cellular environment is a distinct change in the progression of NAFLD, and high viscosity is considered as a biomarker of NAFLD. , Several viscosity-sensitive probes have been reported for the diagnosis of NAFLD. − Because viscosity increase also occurs in other liver diseases, detecting viscosity change alone may lead to false interpretations of NAFLD. − Simultaneously detecting two biomarkers of diseases can effectively avoid false-positive results, in turn highly improving the disease diagnostic accuracy. Therefore, dual-biomarker-activated fluorescent probes are more suitable for accurate disease diagnosis than single-biomarker-activated ones.…”