H-type dimer formation of fluorophores: a mechanism for activatable, in vivo optical molecular imaging.

ABSTRACT: In vivo molecular imaging with target-specific activatable "smart" probes, which yield fluorescence only at the intended target, enables sensitive and specific cancer detection. Dimerization and fluorescence quenching has been shown to occur in concentrated aqueous solutions of various fluorophores. Here, we hypothesized that fluorophore dimerization and quenching after conjugation to targeting proteins can occur at low concentration. This dimerization can be exploited as a mechanism for fluorescence activation. Rhodamine derivatives were conjugated to avidin and trastuzumab, which target D-galactose receptor and HER2/neu antigen, respectively. After conjugation, a large proportion of R6G and TAMRA formed H-type dimers, even at low concentrations, but could be fully dequenched upon dissoci

SUBMITTER: Ogawa M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2743556 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature