Albumin-seeking NIR dyes for high-sensitive imaging of glomerular filtration barrier breakdown

Lang Bai; Yunlong Jia; Shengjie Ma; Qing Cai; Yuewei Zhang; Shoujun Zhu

doi:10.1016/j.biomaterials.2025.123093

Albumin-seeking NIR dyes for high-sensitive imaging of glomerular filtration barrier breakdown

Biomaterials. 2025 Jan 6:317:123093. doi: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2025.123093. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Lang Bai¹, Yunlong Jia², Shengjie Ma³, Qing Cai⁴, Yuewei Zhang⁵, Shoujun Zhu⁶

Affiliations

¹ Joint Laboratory of Opto-Functional Theranostics in Medicine and Chemistry, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, 130021, PR China; State Key Laboratory of Supramolecular Structure and Materials, Center for Supramolecular Chemical Biology, College of Chemistry, Jilin University, Changchun, 130012, PR China.
² Joint Laboratory of Opto-Functional Theranostics in Medicine and Chemistry, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, 130021, PR China.
³ Department of Gastrocolorectal Surgery, General Surgery Center, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, 130012, PR China. Electronic address: masj21@mails.jlu.edu.cn.
⁴ Department of Oral Implantology, School and Hospital of Stomatology, Jilin University, Changchun, 130021, PR China. Electronic address: caiqing@jlu.edu.cn.
⁵ Joint Laboratory of Opto-Functional Theranostics in Medicine and Chemistry, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, 130021, PR China. Electronic address: zhangyueweichem@163.com.
⁶ Joint Laboratory of Opto-Functional Theranostics in Medicine and Chemistry, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, 130021, PR China; State Key Laboratory of Supramolecular Structure and Materials, Center for Supramolecular Chemical Biology, College of Chemistry, Jilin University, Changchun, 130012, PR China. Electronic address: sjzhu@jlu.edu.cn.

PMID: 39799697
DOI: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2025.123093

Abstract

The kidney, vital for metabolic balance, faces risks of severe diseases if dysfunctional. The glomerular filtration barrier (GFB), crucial for blood filtration, disrupts in conditions like diabetic nephropathy or nephritides, resulting in proteinuria or even renal failure. Monitoring GFB integrity is essential for early diagnosis or prognostic monitoring. However, current methods lack effective contrast agents for precise, non-invasive GFB imaging. As near-infrared-II (NIR-II) imaging offers promising imaging quality due to its deep tissue penetration and high resolution/contrast while albumin servers as an efficient biomarker for GFB disruption, developing NIR-II dyes with inherent albumin-targeting moiety, will provide real-time imaging of GFB disruption. Here, we adopt albumin-seeking cyanine dye to high-resolution image endogenous albumin in mouse models, facilitating detecting even mild disruptions with trace proteinuria. Notably, our strategy can determine albuminuria by real time imaging without the need to collect urine. Albumin-seeking dyes also enable fast and accurate quantitative measurement of microalbuminuria from patients. These dyes could revolutionize diagnostics, offering rapid, sensitive in vivo imaging of microalbuminuria and diverse clinical applications.

Keywords: Albumin-seeking cyanine dye; Near-infrared-II imaging; Non-invasive glomerular filtration barrier imaging; Quantitative measurement of microalbuminuria.