Stable,Wavelength‐Tunable Fluorescent Dyes in the NIR‐II Region for In Vivo High‐Contrast Bioimaging and Multiplexed Biosensing

Small‐molecule organic fluorophores, spectrally active in the 900–1700 nm region, with tunable wavelength and sensing properties are sought‐after for in vivo optical imaging and biosensing. A panel of fluorescent dyes ( CX ) has been developed to meet this challenge. CX dyes exhibit the wavelength tunability of cyanine dyes and have a rigidified polymethine chain to guarantee their stability. They are chemo‐ and photo‐stable in an aqueous environment and have tunable optical properties with maximal absorbing/emitting wavelength at 1089/1140 nm. They show great potential in high‐contrast in vivo bioimaging and multicolor detection with negligible optical cross talk. Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) between CX dyes was demonstrated in deep tissue, providing an approach for monitoring drug‐induced hepatotoxicity by detection of OONO^?. This report presents a series of NIR‐II dyes with promising spectroscopic properties for high‐contrast bioimaging and multiplexed biosensing.     

Stable,Wavelength‐Tunable Fluorescent Dyes in the NIR‐II Region for In Vivo High‐Contrast Bioimaging and Multiplexed Biosensing

Small‐molecule organic fluorophores, spectrally active in the 900–1700 nm region, with tunable wavelength and sensing properties are sought‐after for in vivo optical imaging and biosensing. A panel of fluorescent dyes ( CX ) has been developed to meet this challenge. CX dyes exhibit the wavelength tunability of cyanine dyes and have a rigidified polymethine chain to guarantee their stability. They are chemo‐ and photo‐stable in an aqueous environment and have tunable optical properties with maximal absorbing/emitting wavelength at 1089/1140 nm. They show great potential in high‐contrast in vivo bioimaging and multicolor detection with negligible optical cross talk. Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) between CX dyes was demonstrated in deep tissue, providing an approach for monitoring drug‐induced hepatotoxicity by detection of OONO^?. This report presents a series of NIR‐II dyes with promising spectroscopic properties for high‐contrast bioimaging and multiplexed biosensing.     

Far‐Red and Near‐IR AIE‐Active Fluorescent Organic Nanoprobes with Enhanced Tumor‐Targeting Efficacy: Shape‐Specific Effects

The rational design of high‐performance fluorescent materials for cancer targeting in vivo is still challenging. A unique molecular design strategy is presented that involves tailoring aggregation‐induced emission (AIE)‐active organic molecules to realize preferable far‐red and NIR fluorescence, well‐controlled morphology (from rod‐like to spherical), and also tumor‐targeted bioimaging. The shape‐tailored organic quinoline–malononitrile (QM) nanoprobes are biocompatible and highly desirable for cell‐tracking applications. Impressively, the spherical shape of QM‐5 nanoaggregates exhibits excellent tumor‐targeted bioimaging performance after intravenously injection into mice, but not the rod‐like aggregates of QM‐2.     

Real‐Time In Vivo Hepatotoxicity Monitoring through Chromophore‐Conjugated Photon‐Upconverting Nanoprobes

Drug toxicity is a long‐standing concern of modern medicine. A typical anti‐pain/fever drug paracetamol often causes hepatotoxicity due to peroxynitrite ONOO⁻. Conventional blood tests fail to offer real‐time unambiguous visualization of such hepatotoxicity in vivo. Here we report a luminescent approach to evaluate acute hepatotoxicity in vivo by chromophore‐conjugated upconversion nanoparticles. Upon injection, these nanoprobes mainly accumulate in the liver and the luminescence of nanoparticles remains suppressed owing to energy transfer to the chromophore. ONOO⁻ can readily bleach the chromophore and thus recover the luminescence, the presence of ONOO⁻ in the liver leads to fast restoring of the near‐infrared emission. Taking advantages of the high tissue‐penetration capability of near‐infrared excitation/emission, these nanoprobes achieve real‐time monitoring of hepatotoxicity in living animals, thereby providing a convenient screening strategy for assessing hepatotoxicity of synthetic drugs.     

Designing Sub‐2 nm Organosilica Nanohybrids for Far‐Field Super‐Resolution Imaging

Stimulated emission depletion (STED) microscopy enables ultrastructural imaging of biological samples with high spatiotemporal resolution. STED nanoprobes based on fluorescent organosilica nanohybrids featuring sub‐2 nm size and near‐unity quantum yield are presented. The spin–orbit coupling (SOC) of heavy‐atom‐rich organic fluorophores is mitigated through a silane‐molecule‐mediated condensation/dehalogenation process, resulting in bright fluorescent organosilica nanohybrids with multiple emitters in one hybrid nanodot. When harnessed as STED nanoprobes, these fluorescent nanohybrids show intense photoluminescence, high biocompatibility, and long‐term photostability. Taking advantage of the low‐power excitation (0.5 μW), prolonged singlet‐state lifetime, and negligible depletion‐induced re‐excitation, these STED nanohybrids present high depletion efficiency (>96 %), extremely low saturation intensity (0.54 mW, ca. 0.188 MW cm^?2), and ultra‐high lateral resolution (ca. λ_em/28).     

Valence‐Engineering of Quantum Dots Using Programmable DNA Scaffolds

Precise control over the valency of quantum dots (QDs) is critical and fundamental for quantitative imaging in living cells. However, prior approaches on valence control of QDs remain restricted to single types of valences. A DNA‐programmed general strategy is presented for valence engineering of QDs with high modularity and high yield. By employing a series of programmable DNA scaffolds, QDs were generated with tunable valences in a single step with near‐quantitative yield (>95 %). The use of these valence‐engineered QDs was further demonstrated to develop 12 types of topologically organized QDs‐QDs and QDs‐AuNPs and 4 types of fluorescent resonance energy transfer (FRET) nanostructures. Quantitative analysis of the FRET nanostructures and live‐cell imaging reveal the high potential of these nanoprobes in bioimaging and nanophotonic applications.     

Porous CuxCoyS Supraparticles for In Vivo Telomerase Imaging and Reactive Oxygen Species Generation

In this study, we successfully synthesized Cu_xCo_yS supraparticles (SPs) on the nanoscale featuring multiple pores inside and strong absorption from 400 to 900 nm. Porous Cu_xCo_yS SPs produced the highest reactive oxygen species (ROS) yield (1.39) when illuminated with near‐infrared (NIR) light. Furthermore, we demonstrated that Cu_xCo_yS SPs could be used to identify cancer cells through intracellular telomerase‐responsive fluorescence (FL) imaging in living cells. Because the Cu_xCo_yS SPs were associated with telomerase‐responsive bioimaging and high ROS production, they can be efficiently used in the diagnosis and therapy of tumors with high selectivity and excellent therapeutic effects in vivo. This study provides a new vision for the creation of multifunctional SPs, which can be used as cellular sensors and control tools for pathologies across a broad range of biological systems.     

Biocompatible fluorescent polyamine‐based cyclophosphazene hybrid nanospheres for targeted cell imaging

Fluorescent nanoprobes are highly desirable toolkit for bioimaging applications. This study reports the first example for the synthesis of a nontoxic prototypical fluorescent organic compound 2‐benzo[d]thiazol‐2‐yl)‐3‐(2‐chloro‐4‐(dimethylamino)phenyl)acrylonitrile (BCA) and its entrapment into the poly[cyclotriphosphazene‐co‐polyethyleneimine] cross‐linked (PCPEI) nanospheres named as BCA@PCPEI for targeted cell imaging application. The as‐prepared BCA@PCPEI nanospheres were thoroughly characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), fourier transform infrared (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and phosphorus‐31 nuclear magnetic resonance (³¹P‐NMR) analyses. The surface functional analysis of the nanospheres was performed by X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), which proves that the content ratios of elements belong to the precursors concentrations. The as‐prepared nanospheres displayed emission at 606 nm with bright orange fluorescence at any concentration. Moreover, the nanospheres were also less cytotoxic and maintained remarkable cell viability up to 100 μg/mL. Owing to the fluorescence with higher emission, this material has shown excellent cell imaging performance with better targeting ability to HeLa cells.     

In Situ Synthesis of Alkenyl Tetrazines for Highly Fluorogenic Bioorthogonal Live‐Cell Imaging Probes

In spite of the wide application potential of 1,2,4,5‐tetrazines, particularly in live‐cell and in vivo imaging, a major limitation has been the lack of practical synthetic methods. Here we report the in situ synthesis of (E)‐3‐substituted 6‐alkenyl‐1,2,4,5‐tetrazine derivatives through an elimination–Heck cascade reaction. By using this strategy, we provide 24 examples of π‐conjugated tetrazine derivatives that can be conveniently prepared from tetrazine building blocks and related halides. These include tetrazine analogs of biological small molecules, highly conjugated buta‐1,3‐diene‐substituted tetrazines, and a diverse array of fluorescent probes suitable for live‐cell imaging. These highly conjugated probes show very strong fluorescence turn‐on (up to 400‐fold) when reacted with dienophiles such as cyclopropenes and trans‐cyclooctenes, and we demonstrate their application for live‐cell imaging. This work provides an efficient and practical synthetic methodology for tetrazine derivatives and will facilitate the application of conjugated tetrazines, particularly as fluorogenic probes for live‐cell imaging.     

Phosphonated Near‐Infrared Fluorophores for Biomedical Imaging of Bone

The conventional method for creating targeted contrast agents is to conjugate separate targeting and fluorophore domains. A new strategy is based on the incorporation of targeting moieties into the non‐delocalized structure of pentamethine and heptamethine indocyanines. Using the known affinity of phosphonates for bone minerals in a model system, two families of bifunctional molecules that target bone without requiring a traditional bisphosphonate are synthesized. With peak fluorescence emissions at approximately 700 or 800 nm, these molecules can be used for fluorescence‐assisted resection and exploration (FLARE) dual‐channel imaging. Longitudinal FLARE studies in mice demonstrate that phosphonated near‐infrared fluorophores remain stable in bone for over five weeks, and histological analysis confirms their incorporation into the bone matrix. Taken together, a new strategy for creating ultra‐compact, targeted near‐infrared fluorophores for various bioimaging applications is described.     

Pre‐targeted Imaging of Protease Activity through In Situ Assembly of Nanoparticles

The pre‐targeted imaging of enzyme activity has not been reported, likely owing to the lack of a mechanism to retain the injected substrate in the first step for subsequent labeling. Herein, we report the use of two bioorthogonal reactions—the condensation reaction of aromatic nitriles and aminothiols and the inverse‐electron demand Diels–Alder reaction between tetrazine and trans‐cyclooctene (TCO)—to develop a novel strategy for pre‐targeted imaging of the activity of proteases. The substrate probe ( TCO‐C‐SNAT4 ) can be selectively activated by an enzyme target (e.g. caspase‐3/7), which triggers macrocyclization and subsequent in situ self‐assembly into nanoaggregates retained at the target site. The tetrazine‐imaging tag conjugate labels TCO in the nanoaggregates to generate selective signal retention for imaging in vitro, in cells, and in mice. Owing to the decoupling of enzyme activation and imaging tag immobilization, TCO‐C‐SNAT4 can be repeatedly injected to generate and accumulate more TCO‐nanoaggregates for click labeling.     

A “Schizophotonic” All‐In‐One Nanoparticle Coating for Multiplexed SE(R)RS Biomedical Imaging

SERS nanoprobes for in vivo biomedical applications require high quantum yield, long circulation times, and maximum colloidal stability. Traditional synthetic routes require high metal–dye affinities and are challenged by unfavorable electrostatic interactions and limited scalability. We report the synthesis of a new near‐IR active poly(N‐(2‐hydroxypropyl) methacrylamide) (pHPMA). The integration of various SERS reporters into a biocompatible polymeric surface coating allows for controlled dye incorporation, high colloidal stability, and optimized in vivo circulation times. This technique allows the synthesis of very small (<20 nm) SERS probes, which is crucial for the design of excretable and thus highly translatable imaging agents. Depending on their size, the “schizophotonic” nanoparticles can emit both SERS and fluorescence. We demonstrate the capability of this all‐in‐one gold surface coating and SERS reporter for multiplexed lymph‐node imaging.     

Molecular‐Sieving Membrane by Partitioning the Channels in Ultrafiltration Membrane by In Situ Polymerization

Commercial ultrafiltration membranes have proliferated globally for water treatment. However, their pore sizes are too large to sieve gases. Conjugated microporous polymers (CMPs) feature well‐developed microporosity yet are difficult to be fabricated into membranes. Herein, we report a strategy to prepare molecular‐sieving membranes by partitioning the mesoscopic channels in water ultrafiltration membrane (PSU) into ultra‐micropores by space‐confined polymerization of multi‐functionalized rigid building units. Nine CMP@PSU membranes were obtained, and their separation performance for H₂/CO₂, H₂/N₂, and H₂/CH₄ pairs surpass the Robeson upper bound and rival against the best of those reported membranes. Furthermore, highly crosslinked skeletons inside the channels result in the structural robustness and transfer into the excellent aging resistance of the CMP@PSU. This strategy may shed light on the design and fabrication of high‐performance polymeric gas separation membranes.     

Alkyl Chain Introduction: In Situ Solar‐Renewable Colorful Organic Mechanoluminescence Materials

Mechanoluminescence (ML) materials are environmentally friendly and emit light by utilizing mechanical energy. This has been utilized in light sources, displays, bioimaging, and advanced sensors. Organic ML materials are strongly limited to application by in situ unrepeatable ML. Now, in situ solar‐renewable organic ML materials can be formed by introducing a soft alkyl chain into an ML unit. For the first time, the ML from these polycrystalline thin films can be iteratively produced by simply recrystallizing the fractured crystal in situ after a contactless exposure to sunlight within a short time (≤60 s). Additionally, their ML color and lifetime can be also easily tuned by doping with organic luminescent dyes. Therefore, large‐area sandwich‐type organic ML devices can be fabricated, which can be repeatedly used in a colorful piezo‐display, visual handwriting monitor, and sensitive optical sensor, showing a lowest pressure threshold for ML of about 5 kPa.     

Tetrazine Carbon Nanotubes for Pretargeted In Vivo “Click‐to‐Release” Bioorthogonal Tumour Imaging

The bioorthogonal inverse‐electron‐demand Diels–Alder (IEDDA) cleavage reaction between tetrazine and trans‐cyclooctene (TCO) is a powerful way to control the release of bioactive agents and imaging probes. In this study, a pretargeted activation strategy using single‐walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) that bear tetrazines (TZ@SWCNTs) and a TCO‐caged molecule was used to deliver active effector molecules. To optimize a turn‐on signal by using in vivo fluorescence imaging, we developed a new fluorogenic near‐infrared probe that can be activated by bioorthogonal chemistry and image tumours in mice by caging hemicyanine with TCO (tHCA). With our pretargeting strategy, we have shown selective doxorubicin prodrug activation and instantaneous fluorescence imaging in living cells. By combining a tHCA probe and a pretargeted bioorthogonal approach, real‐time, non‐invasive tumour visualization with a high target‐to‐background ratio was achieved in a xenograft mice tumour model. The combined advantages of enhanced stability, kinetics and biocompatibility, and the superior pharmacokinetics of tetrazine‐functionalised SWCNTs could allow application of targeted bioorthogonal decaging approaches with minimal off‐site activation of fluorophore/drug.     

Photo‐Cross‐Linked Small‐Molecule Microarrays as Chemical Genomic Tools for Dissecting Protein–Ligand Interactions

We have developed a unique photo‐cross‐linking approach for immobilizing a variety of small molecules in a functional‐group‐independent manner. Our approach depends on the reactivity of the carbene species generated from trifluoromethylaryldiazirine upon UV irradiation. It was demonstrated in model experiments that the photogenerated carbenes were able to react with every small molecule tested, and they produced multiple conjugates in most cases. It was also found in on‐array immobilization experiments that various small molecules were immobilized, and the immobilized small molecules retained their ability to interact with their binding proteins. With this approach, photo‐cross‐linked microarrays of about 2000 natural products and drugs were constructed. This photo‐cross‐linked microarray format was found to be useful not merely for ligand screening but also to study the structure–activity relationship, that is, the relationship between the structural motif (or pharmacophore) found in small molecules and its binding affinity toward a protein, by taking advantage of the nonselective nature of the photo‐cross‐linking process.     

Bottom‐Up Fabrication of Nanopatterned Polymers on DNA Origami by In Situ Atom‐Transfer Radical Polymerization

Bottom‐up strategies to fabricate patterned polymers at the nanoscale represent an emerging field in the development of advanced nanodevices, such as biosensors, nanofluidics, and nanophotonics. DNA origami techniques provide access to distinct architectures of various sizes and shapes and present manifold opportunities for functionalization at the nanoscale with the highest precision. Herein, we conduct in situ atom‐transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) on DNA origami, yielding differently nanopatterned polymers of various heights. After cross‐linking, the grafted polymeric nanostructures can even stably exist in solution without the DNA origami template. This straightforward approach allows for the fabrication of patterned polymers with low nanometer resolution, which provides access to unique DNA‐based functional hybrid materials.     

Multifunctional Nano‐Bioprobes Based on Rattle‐Structured Upconverting Luminescent Nanoparticles

Lanthanide‐doped upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) have shown great promise in versatile bioapplications. For the first time, organosilica‐shelled β‐NaLuF₄:Gd/Yb/Er nanoprobes with a rattle structure have been designed for dual‐modal imaging and photodynamic therapy (PDT). Benefiting from the unique rattle structure and aromatic framework, these nanoprobes are endowed with a high loading capacity and the disaggregation effect of photosensitizers. After loading of β‐carboxyphthalocyanine zinc or rose Bengal into the nanoprobes, we achieved higher energy transfer efficiency from UCNPs to photosensitizers as compared to those with conventional core–shell structure or with pure‐silica shell, which facilitates a large production of singlet oxygen and thus an enhanced PDT efficacy. We demonstrated the use of these nanoprobes in proof‐of‐concept X‐ray computed tomography (CT) and UC imaging, thus revealing the great potential of this multifunctional material as an excellent nanoplatform for cancer theranostics.     

DNA‐Templated Assembly of a Heterobivalent Quantum Dot Nanoprobe For Extra‐ and Intracellular Dual‐Targeting and Imaging of Live Cancer Cells

Quantum dots (QDs) hold great promise for the molecular imaging of cancer because of their superior optical properties. Although cell‐surface biomarkers can be readily imaged with QDs, non‐invasive live‐cell imaging of critical intracellular cancer markers with QDs is a great challenge because of the difficulties in the automatic delivery of QD probes to the cytosol and the ambiguity of intracellular targeting signals. Herein, we report a new type of DNA‐templated heterobivalent QD nanoprobes with the ability to target and image two spatially isolated cancer markers (nucleolin and mRNA) present on the cell surface and in the cell cytosol. Bypassing endolysosomal sequestration, this type of QD nanoprobes undergo macropinocytosis following the nucleolin targeting and then translocate to the cytosol for mRNA targeting. Fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) based confocal microscopy enables unambiguous signal deconvolution of mRNA‐targeted QD nanoprobes inside cancer cells.     

An Integrated Mass Spectrometry Based Approach to Probe the Structure of the Full‐Length Wild‐Type Tetrameric p53 Tumor Suppressor

We present an integrated approach for investigating the topology of proteins through native mass spectrometry (MS) and cross‐linking/MS, which we applied to the full‐length wild‐type p53 tetramer. For the first time, the two techniques were combined in one workflow to obtain not only structural insight in the p53 tetramer, but also information on the cross‐linking efficiency and the impact of cross‐linker modification on the conformation of an intrinsically disordered protein (IDP). P53 cross‐linking was monitored by native MS and as such, our strategy serves as a quality control for different cross‐linking reagents. Our approach can be applied to the structural investigation of various protein systems, including IDPs and large protein assemblies, which are challenging to study by the conventional methods used for protein structure characterization.