Targeting infected host cells in vivo via responsive azido-sugar mediated metabolic cell labeling followed by click...

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Infectious Disease Diagnostics
• Molecular Imaging

Background:

• Early diagnosis of intracellular infectious disease foci is challenging due to pathogen concealment within host cells.
• Conventional probes struggle to detect and analyze pathogens residing inside host cells.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel probe for targeted labeling of infected host cells.
• To enable early in vivo diagnosis and treatment of infectious diseases.

Main Methods:

• Design and synthesis of a ROS-responsive unnatural sugar probe (Ac3GalNAzSP).
• Utilizing reactive oxygen species (ROS) overproduction in infected cells to trigger probe activation.
• Metabolic labeling of infected host cells with azido groups.
• Employing Click Chemistry for in vivo targeting of infection sites.

Main Results:

• Ac3GalNAzSP demonstrated stability under physiological conditions.
• The probe specifically released active unnatural sugar in ROS-overproducing host cells.
• Infected host cells were successfully labeled with azido groups.
• In vivo infection sites were targeted using Click Chemistry.

Conclusions:

• The developed probe offers an unprecedented approach for targeting infected host cells.
• This technique facilitates early in vivo diagnosis of infectious diseases.
• The method holds potential for targeted treatment strategies.