Multifunctional materials conjugated with near-infrared fluorescent organic molecules and their targeted cancer bioimaging potentialities

Abstract

Near-infrared fluorescent dyes based on small organic molecules are believed to have a great influence on cancer diagnosis at large and targeted cancer cell bioimaging, in particular. NIR dyes-based organic molecules have notable characteristics features, such as high tissue penetration and low tissue autofluorescence in the NIR spectral region. Cancer targeted bioimaging relies significantly on the synthesis of highly specific molecular probes with excellent stability. Recently, NIR dyes have emerged as unique fluorescent probes for cancer bioimaging. These current advancements have overcome many limitations of conventional NIR probes e.g., poor photostability and hydrophilicity, insufficient stability and low quantum yield. The further potential lies in NIR dyes or NIR dyes-coated nanocarriers conjugated with cancer-specific ligand (e.g., peptides, antibodies, proteins or other small molecules). Multifunctional NIR dyes have synthesized, which efficiently accumulate in cancer cells without requiring chemical conjugation and also these dyes have presented novel photophysical and pharmaceutical properties for in vivo imaging. This review highlights the recently developed NIR dyes with novel applications in cancer bioimaging. We believe that these novel fluorophores will enhance our understanding of cancer imaging and pave a new road in cancer diagnosis and treatment.

Fluorescence probes for lung carcinoma diagnosis and clinical application

“…Many NIR fluorophores exhibit excellent properties for selective accumulation in tissues, organs, or tumor lesions in vivo, and enhance tumor sites by binding to tumor-specific molecular biomarkers such as proteases, peptides, and antibodies. 2,[4][5][6][7] NIR probes that possess specificity and sensitivity toward tumor sites have been widely utilized in tumor-targeted imaging and tumor treatment. 8 These probes indicate unique optical and biomedical imaging properties for broad development prospects.…”

“…1 The rapid development and improvement of near-infrared fluorescent probes have improved some optical properties, such as hydrophilicity, stability, and high quantum yields. 2 These features can greatly strengthen the detection selectivity and sensitivity. An excellent NIR imaging probe requires excellent chemical and photophysical properties.…”

Albumin-based nanoparticle for dual-modality imaging of the lymphatic system

“…NIR uorescent dyes have strong emission characteristics and limited autouorescence in aqueous solvents. [28][29][30] The most common NIR uorescent dyes are polymethine cyanine dyes, including pentamethine cyanine and heptamethine cyanine. [31][32][33] Their extinction coefficients are very high (up to 150 000-250 000 L (mol −1 cm −1 )), and they can be detected in deep tissues under the action of excitation light but cannot be observed with the naked eye.…”

π-Conjugated Polymer Nanoparticles from Design, Synthesis to Biomedical Applications: Sensing, Imaging, and Therapy

“…Until now, CPNs and, more generally, soft fluorescent nanoparticles (NPs) have emerged as novel biomedical analysis tools due to their exceptional photophysical properties, outstanding photochemical stability, extraordinary fluorescence efficiency, tunable spectral properties, and amplified fluorescent quenching effect with less toxicity. They have been exploited in fluorescence imaging [ 8 ], cancer cell bioimaging [ 9 ], photodynamics, photothermal therapy [ 10 ], antimicrobial therapy, and bacteria killing, as shown in Figure 1 [ 11 ]. For biomedical applications, CPNs present many advantages over small organic molecule nanoparticles.…”

“…Since this seminal work, a number of reviews dealing with the developments and applications of organic fluorescent nanoparticles have been published. These reviews have highlighted small organic molecules [ 9 , 14 , 15 ], conjugated polymer nanoparticles [ 3 , 16 ], aggregation-induced emission dots [ 17 , 18 , 19 ], carbon dots [ 20 , 21 ], and up-conversion nanoparticles [ 22 ]. Some of these reviews cover very broad topics, including the synthesis of organic and polymeric materials and the preparation of NPs, whereas others focus on applications, including sensing [ 23 ], imaging [ 24 ], and diagnostic and therapeutic potential (phototherapy).…”