A New Class of NIR-II Gold Nanocluster-Based Protein Biolabels for In Vivo Tumor-Targeted Imaging

Xiaorong Song; Wei Zhu; Xiaoguang Ge; Renfu Li; Shihua Li; Xian Chen; Jibin Song; Jianping Xie; Xueyuan Chen; Huanghao Yang

doi:10.1002/anie.202010870

A New Class of NIR-II Gold Nanocluster-Based Protein Biolabels for In Vivo Tumor-Targeted Imaging

Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2021 Jan 18;60(3):1306-1312. doi: 10.1002/anie.202010870. Epub 2020 Nov 13.

Authors

Xiaorong Song^{1

2}, Wei Zhu¹, Xiaoguang Ge¹, Renfu Li³, Shihua Li¹, Xian Chen¹, Jibin Song¹, Jianping Xie^{4

5}, Xueyuan Chen^{3

2}, Huanghao Yang^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ MOE Key Laboratory for Analytical Science of Food Safety and Biology & State Key Laboratory of Photocatalysis on Energy and Environment, College of Chemistry, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou, Fujian, 350116, China.
² Fujian Science & Technology Innovation Laboratory for Optoelectronic Information of China, Fuzhou, Fujian, 350108, China.
³ CAS Key Laboratory of Design and Assembly of Functional Nanostructures, and Fujian Key Laboratory of Nanomaterials, Fujian Institute of Research on the Structure of Matter, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Fuzhou, Fujian, 350002, China.
⁴ Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, National University of Singapore, 4 Engineering Drive 4, Singapore, 117585, Singapore.
⁵ Joint School of National University of Singapore and Tianjin University, International Campus of Tianjin University, Binhai New City, Fuzhou, Fujian, 350207, China.

PMID: 32940954
DOI: 10.1002/anie.202010870

Abstract

The design of bright NIR-II luminescent nanomaterials that enable efficient labelling of proteins without disturbing their physiological properties in vivo is challenging. We developed an efficient strategy to synthesize bright NIR-II gold nanoclusters (Au NCs) protected by biocompatible cyclodextrin (CD). Leveraging the ultrasmall size of Au NCs (<2 nm) and strong macrocycle-based host-guest chemistry, the as-synthesized CD-Au NCs can readily label proteins/antibodies. Moreover, the labelled proteins/antibodies enable highly efficient in vivo tracking during blood circulation, without disturbing their biodistribution and tumor targeting ability, thus leading to a sensitive tumor-targeted imaging. CD-Au NCs are stable in the harsh biological environment and show good biocompatibility and high renal clearance efficiency. Therefore, the NIR-II biolabels developed in this study provide a promising platform to monitor the physiological behavior of biomolecules in living organisms.

Keywords: NIR-II imaging; cyclodextrin; gold nanoclusters; protein labelling; tumor imaging.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Gold / chemistry*
Humans
Metal Nanoparticles / chemistry*
Molecular Imaging / methods*
Nanostructures / chemistry*

Substances

Gold