Intracellular Self-assembly of TPE-biotin Nanoparticles Enables Aggregation-Induced Emission Fluorescence for Cancer-Targeted Imaging

Fluorogens with aggregation-induced emission (AIE) characteristics have recently been widely applied for studying biological events, and fluorogens with smart properties are especially desirable. Herein, we rationally designed and synthesized a biotinylated and reduction-activatable probe (Cys(StBu)-Lys(biotin)-Lys(TPE)-CBT (begin{document}$textbf{1}$end{document})) with AIE properties for cancer-targeted imaging. The biotinylated probe begin{document}$textbf{1}$end{document} can be actively uptaken by the biotin receptor-overexpressing cancer cells, and then smartly self-assemble into nanoparticles inside cells and turn the fluorescence On. Employing this smart strategy, we successfully applied probe begin{document}$textbf{1}$end{document} for cancer-targeted imaging. We envision that this biotinylated intelligent probe begin{document}$textbf{1}$end{document} might be further developed for cancer-targeted imaging in routine clinical studies in the near future.