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Updated: Jul 29, 2025
A Bright NIR-II Fluorescence Probe for Vascular and Tumor Imaging
Published on: March 17, 2023
A novel strategy to construct activatable silver chalcogenide quantum dots nanoprobe for NIR-Ⅱ fluorescence imaging
Yajie Chi1, Qing Hu1, Shuxiao Yi1
1Collaborative Innovation Center for Advanced Organic Chemical Materials Co-constructed by the Province and Ministry, Ministry-of-Education Key Laboratory for the Synthesis and Application of Organic Functional Molecules, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hubei University, Wuhan, Hubei, 430062, PR China.
Abstract:
It is necessary to develop sensitive and selective probes for real-time in vivo monitoring of hypochlorous acid (HClO) which plays a significant role in physiological and pathological processes. The second near-infrared (NIR-Ⅱ) luminescent silver chalcogenide quantum dots (QDs) have shown great potential in developing activatable nanoprobe for HClO in terms of their outstanding imaging performance in the living organism. However, the limited strategy for the construction of activatable nanoprobes severely restricts their widespread applications. Herein, we proposed a novel strategy for developing an activatable silver chalcogenide QDs nanoprobe for NIR-Ⅱ fluorescence imaging of HClO in vivo. The nanoprobe was fabricated by mixing an Au-precursor solution with Ag2Te@Ag2S QDs to allow cation exchange and release Ag ions and then reducing the released Ag ions on the QDs surface to form an Ag shell for quenching of the emission of QDs. The Ag shell of QDs was oxidized and etched in the presence of HClO, resulting in the disappearance of their quenching effect on QDs and the activation of the QDs emission. The developed nanoprobe enabled highly sensitive and selective determination of HClO and imaging of HClO in arthritis and peritonitis. This study provides a novel strategy for the construction of activatable nanoprobe based on QDs and a promising tool for NIR-Ⅱ imaging of HClO in vivo.
