Volume 135, Issue 13 e202214855
Forschungsartikel

Xanthene-Based Nitric Oxide-Responsive Nanosensor for Photoacoustic Imaging in the SWIR Window

Chathuranga S. L. Rathnamalala

Chathuranga S. L. Rathnamalala

Department of Chemistry, Mississippi State University, 310 President Circle, Mississippi State, MS 39762 USA

These authors contributed equally to this work.

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Selena Hernandez

Selena Hernandez

Department of Chemistry and Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, 600 South Mathews Avenue, Urbana, IL USA

These authors contributed equally to this work.

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Dr. Melissa Y. Lucero

Dr. Melissa Y. Lucero

Department of Chemistry and Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, 600 South Mathews Avenue, Urbana, IL USA

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Chelsea B. Swartchick

Chelsea B. Swartchick

Department of Chemistry and Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, 600 South Mathews Avenue, Urbana, IL USA

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Dr. Abdul Kalam Shaik

Dr. Abdul Kalam Shaik

University of Mississippi, USA

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Prof. Dr. Nathan I. Hammer

Prof. Dr. Nathan I. Hammer

University of Mississippi, USA

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Amanda K. East

Amanda K. East

Department of Chemistry and Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, 600 South Mathews Avenue, Urbana, IL USA

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Prof. Dr. Steven R. Gwaltney

Prof. Dr. Steven R. Gwaltney

Department of Chemistry, Mississippi State University, 310 President Circle, Mississippi State, MS 39762 USA

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Prof. Dr. Jefferson Chan

Corresponding Author

Prof. Dr. Jefferson Chan

Department of Chemistry and Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, 600 South Mathews Avenue, Urbana, IL USA

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Prof. Dr. Colleen N. Scott

Corresponding Author

Prof. Dr. Colleen N. Scott

Department of Chemistry, Mississippi State University, 310 President Circle, Mississippi State, MS 39762 USA

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First published: 01 February 2023

Abstract

Shortwave infrared (SWIR) dyes are characterized by their ability to absorb light from 900 to 1400 nm, which is ideal for deep tissue imaging owing to minimized light scattering and interference from endogenous pigments. An approach to access such molecules is to tune the photophysical properties of known near-infrared dyes. Herein, we report the development of a series of easily accessible (three steps) SWIR xanthene dyes based on a dibenzazepine donor conjugated to thiophene (SCR-1), thienothiophene (SCR-2), or bithiophene (SCR-3). We leverage the fact that SCR-1 undergoes a bathochromic shift when aggregated for in vivo studies by developing a ratiometric nanoparticle for NO (rNP-NO), which we employed to successfully visualize pathological levels of nitric oxide in a drug-induced liver injury model via deep tissue SWIR photoacoustic (PA) imaging. Our work demonstrates how easily this dye series can be utilized as a component in nanosensor designs for imaging studies.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Data Availability Statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available in the Supporting Information of this article.

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