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Updated: May 2, 2026
A Bright NIR-II Fluorescence Probe for Vascular and Tumor Imaging
Published on: March 17, 2023
Targeted zwitterionic near infrared fluorescent probe for improved imaging of type 2 cannabinoid receptors
Zhiyuan Wu1, Pin Shao2, Shaojuan Zhang3
1University of Pittsburgh, Department of Radiology, Molecular Imaging Laboratory, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15219bShanghai Jiao Tong University, School of Medicine, Ruijin Hospital, Department of Radiology, Shanghai 200025, China.
Abstract:
Recent studies indicate that the type 2 cannabinoid receptors (CB2R) have become an attractive target for treating a variety of pathologies, including cancers, neurodegenerative diseases, inflammation, pain, osteoporosis, immunological disorders and drug abuse. In addition, it appears that many of these diseases have up-regulated CB2R expression. However, the precise role of CB2R in the regulation of diseases remains unclear. The ability to specifically image CB2R would contribute to develop reliable CB2R-based therapeutic approaches with a better understanding of the mechanism of CB2R action in these diseases. We developed a CB2R-targeted zwitterionic near-infrared (NIR) fluorescent probe, ZW760-mbc94. When compared with a previously reported CB2R probe (NIR760-mbc94) with the same targeting moiety but a charged NIR fluorescent dye, ZW760-mbc94 showed improved binding specificity in vitro and ex vivo. Overall, ZW760-mbc94 appears to have great potential as a CB2R-targeted contrast agent.
