Emission‐Tunable Nanofluorophores through Self‐assembly of Amphiphilic Block Copolymers: toward Application in Cell Imaging

Abstract

Comprehensive Summary Nanofluorophores based on aggregation‐induced emission (AIE) dyes have recently received considerable attention because of their unique optical properties and biocompatibility. In this work, we report an emission‐tunable nanofluorophore constructed by the self‐assembly of an amphiphilic block copolymer (denoted by PTN). The diblock copolymer was synthesized by RAFT polymerization. A polyethylene glycol‐based trithiocarbonate was employed as the macromolecular chain transfer agent, and a near‐infrared emitting tetraphenylethylene derivative with a vinyl terminal group was designed as the monomer. The block copolymers self‐assembled in an aqueous solution to form nanospheres, which showed near‐infrared emission at approximately 720 nm with a significant Stokes shift of approximately 260 nm. Furthermore, nanofluorophores have excellent biocompatibility, photostability, and pH‐independent emission‐tunable properties, and were successfully applied to label HeLa cells for fluorescence imaging.

Near-infrared fluorescence probes based on disassembly-induced emission pyrene derivatives

“…Biocompatibility is one of the most important indicators to assess whether a fluorescent dye can be used in biological systems. [46][47][48] We used the CCK-8 method to assess the biocompatibility of PYN/PYN@CB [8] by characterizing its effect on the cell viability of HeLa cells. The CCK-8 reagent is reduced by the dehydrogenases in the mitochondria of living cells to orangecolored formazan, and the amount of formazan generated can be characterized by absorbance.…”

Tetrasubstituted imidazole derivatives and their imidazolium: photophysical properties in the aggregate state and application for adenosine detection

“…[1][2][3][4] Due to their high sensitivity and selectivity, AIEbased luminogens (AIEgens) have gained considerable attention in applications such as detection and biological imaging. [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20] Recently, several types of AIEgens, mainly including siloles, 21 pyroles, 22 tetraphenylethylenes, [23][24][25] pyrazines, 26 triphenylamines, 27 naphthalenes, 28 and tetraphenyl-1,3-butadiene, 29 have been successfully developed. Experimental studies and theoretical calculations consistently indicate that the restriction of intramolecular motion (RIM) serves as the primary mechanism underlying the AIE effect.…”