Of good report: Synthesis and screening of an 80‐member tricarbocyanine library identified CyNAMLA‐381 as a near‐IR surface‐enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) reporter with good signal stability and higher sensitivity than the standard. Encapsulation of CyNAMLA‐381 on gold nanoparticles and conjugation to an antibody afforded SERS nanotags with excellent sensitivity, stability, and tumor specificity in xenograft models (see picture).

With the emerging interest in optical in vivo imaging, there is an increasing demand of photostable near-infrared (NIR) dyes. Herein we report the rational design of an amine tricarbocyanine structure with improved photostability (CyNA) and its combinatorial derivatization to render CyNA-414 as a NIR-fluorescent dye with stronger emission intensity and higher photostability than the NIR standard IndoCyanine Green (ICG).

Development of highly sensitive and selective sensing systems of divalent zinc ion (Zn(2+)) in organisms has been a growing interest in the past decades owing to its pivotal role in cellular metabolism, apoptosis, and neurotransmission. Herein, we report the rational design and synthesis of a Zn(2+) fluorescent-based probe by assembling lanthanide-doped upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) with chromophores. Specifically, upconversion luminescence (UCL) can be effectively quenched by the chromophores on the surface of nanoparticles via a fluorescence resonant energy transfer (FRET) process and subsequently recovered upon the addition of Zn(2+), thus allowing for quantitative monitoring of Zn(2+). Importantly, the sensing system enables detection of Zn(2+) in real biological samples. We demonstrate that this chromophore-UCNP nanosystem is capable of implementing an efficient in vitro and in vivo detection of Zn(2+) in mouse brain slice with Alzheimer's disease and zebrafish, respectively.

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