Intracellular Disassembly of Self-Quenched Nanoparticles Turns NIR Fluorescence on for Sensing Furin Activity in Cells and in Tumors.

Abstract

There has been no report on enzyme-controlled disassembly of self-quenched NIR fluorescent nanoparticles turning fluorescence on for specific detection/imaging of the enzyme's activity in vitro and in vivo. Herein, we reported the rational design of new NIR probe 1 whose fluorescence signal was self-quenched upon reduction-controlled condensation and subsequent assembly of its nanoparticles (i.e., 1-NPs). Then disassembly of 1-NPs by furin turned the fluorescence on. Employing this enzymatic strategy, we successfully applied 1-NPs for NIR detection of furin in vitro and NIR imaging furin activity in living cells. Moreover, we also applied 1-NPs for discriminative NIR imaging of MDA-MB-468 tumors in nude mice. This NIR probe 1 might be further developed for tumor-targeted imaging in routine preclinical studies or even in patients in the future.

• Authors: Yue Yuan, Jia Zhang, Qinjingwen Cao, Linna An, Gaolin Liang
• Journal: Analytical chemistry (Anal Chem) Vol. 87 Issue 12 Pg. 6180-5 (Jun 16 2015) ISSN: 1520-6882 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 25986852 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)

Chemical References

• Fluorescent Dyes
• Furin

Topics

• Animals
• Cell Line, Tumor
• Enzyme Activation
• Fluorescence
• Fluorescent Dyes (chemistry)
• Furin (analysis, deficiency, metabolism)
• Humans
• Infrared Rays
• Mice
• Mice, Nude
• Molecular Structure
• Nanoparticles (chemistry)
• Neoplasms (enzymology, pathology)