Nitrile-aminothiol bioorthogonal near-infrared fluorogenic probes for ultrasensitive in vivo imaging.

ABSTRACT: Bioorthogonal chemistry-mediated self-assembly holds great promise for dynamic molecular imaging in living organisms. However, existing approaches are limited to nanoaggregates with 'always-on' signals, suffering from high signal-to-background ratio (SBR) and compromised detection sensitivity. Herein we report a nitrile-aminothiol (NAT) bioorthogonal fluorogenic probe (CyNA_P-SS-FK) for ultrasensitive diagnosis of orthotopic hepatocellular carcinoma. This probe comprises a nitrile-substituted hemicyanine scaffold with a cysteine tail dually locked with biomarker-responsive moieties. Upon dual cleavage by tumor-specific cathepsin B and biothiols, the 1,2-aminothiol residue is exposed and spontaneously reacts with nitrile group for in situ intramolecular macrocyclization, enabling

SUBMITTER: Xu W 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11695607 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature