A stable and biocompatible shortwave infrared nanoribbon for dual-channel in vivo imaging

Cheng Yao; Ruwei Wei; Xiao Luo; Jie Zhou; Xiaodong Zhang; Xicun Lu; Yan Dong; Ruofan Chu; Yuxin Sun; Yu Wang; Wencheng Xia; Dahui Qu; Cong Liu; Jun Ren; Guangbo Ge; Jinquan Chen; Xuhong Qian; Youjun Yang

doi:10.1038/s41467-024-55445-x

A stable and biocompatible shortwave infrared nanoribbon for dual-channel in vivo imaging

Nat Commun. 2025 Jan 2;16(1):4. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-55445-x.

Authors

Cheng Yao^{1

2}, Ruwei Wei^{1

2}, Xiao Luo³, Jie Zhou^{4

5}, Xiaodong Zhang^{1

2}, Xicun Lu^{1

2}, Yan Dong^{1

2}, Ruofan Chu^{1

2}, Yuxin Sun^{1

2}, Yu Wang³, Wencheng Xia⁶, Dahui Qu¹, Cong Liu⁶, Jun Ren⁷, Guangbo Ge⁸, Jinquan Chen^{4

5}, Xuhong Qian^{1

2

3}, Youjun Yang^{9

10}

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, China.
² Shanghai Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology, Shanghai Frontiers Science Center of Optogenetic Techniques for Cell Metabolism, School of Pharmacy, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, China.
³ Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Molecular Therapeutics and New Drug Development, School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China.
⁴ State Key Laboratory of Precision Spectroscopy, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China.
⁵ School of Physics and Electronic Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China.
⁶ Interdisciplinary Research Center on Biology and Chemistry, Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.
⁷ Hubei Key Laboratory for Precision Synthesis of Small Molecule Pharmaceuticals & Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for the Synthesis and Application of Organic Functional Molecules, Hubei University, Wuhan, China.
⁸ Institute of Interdisciplinary Integrative Medicine Research, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China.
⁹ State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, China. youjunyang@ecust.edu.cn.
¹⁰ Shanghai Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology, Shanghai Frontiers Science Center of Optogenetic Techniques for Cell Metabolism, School of Pharmacy, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, China. youjunyang@ecust.edu.cn.

Abstract

The shortwave infrared (SWIR) region is an ideal spectral window for next-generation bioimaging to harness improved penetration and reduced phototoxicity. SWIR spectral activity may also be accessed via supramolecular dye aggregation. Unfortunately, development of dye aggregation remains challenging. We propose a crystal-aided aggregate synthesis (CAASH) approach to introduce a layer of rationality for the development of J-aggregate and the successful development of a water-soluble SWIR JV-aggregate with a bisbenzannulated silicon rhodamine scaffold (ESi5). The resulting SWIR-aggregates exhibit excellent stabilities toward organic solvents, pH, sonication, photobleaching, thiols, and endogenous oxidative species. Notably, the aggregates have a high structure-dependent melting temperature of ca. 330-335 K. In fact, the heating/annealing process can be exploited to reduce aggregation disorder. The aggregates are biocompatible and have broad potential in in vivo fluorescence and photoacoustic imaging and more.

MeSH terms

Animals
Biocompatible Materials* / chemistry
Fluorescent Dyes / chemistry
Humans
Infrared Rays*
Mice
Nanotubes, Carbon / chemistry
Optical Imaging / methods
Photoacoustic Techniques / methods
Rhodamines / chemistry

Substances

Biocompatible Materials
Nanotubes, Carbon
Rhodamines
Fluorescent Dyes