Visualizing Aβ deposits in live young AD model mice with a simple red/near-infrared-fluorescent AIEgen

• 作者: Yipu Wang Dong Mei Xinyi Zhang Da-Hui Qu Ju Mei
• 来源期刊: 中国科学：化学（英文版）
• 年，卷（期）: 2022,（2）
• 所属期刊栏目: ARTICLES
• 页码范围: 339-352
• 页数: 14页
• 语种: 英文

摘要

Precise and early detection of β-amyloid(Aβ)deposits in situ and in real time is pivotal to the diagnosis and early intervention of Alzheimer's disease(AD).Optical imaging stands out to be a promising technique for such a task;however,it still remains a big challenge,due to the lack of high-performance imaging contrast agent.Restricted by poor blood-brain barrier(BBB)penetr-ability,short-wavelength excitation and emission,as well as the aggregation-caused quenching effect,the widely used gold-standard probes cannot be used for early in-vivo imaging of Aβ deposits.Herein,we integrate the Aβ deposits-favored geometry,amphiphilic and zwitterionic molecular structure,extended D-πt-A electronic structure,and 3D conformation into one molecule,facilely establishing a simple and economic imaging contrast agent that enjoys high specificity and affinity to Aβ deposits,good BBB penetrability,bright red/near-infrared fluorescence,low interference from autofluorescence,aggregation-induced emission(AIE)feature,high signal-to-noise ratio(SNR),and high contrast.In-vitro,ex-vivo,and in-vivo experiments with different strains of mice indicate that AIE-CNPy-AD holds the universality to Aβ deposits identification.Noteworthily,AIE-CNPy-AD is even able to precisely trace the small and sparsely-distributed Aβ deposits in AD model mice as young as 4-month-old APP/PS1 mice,the youngest having Aβ deposits.Moreover,the present probe could clearly reveal the increase and enlargement of Aβ deposits as the mice grow.Therefore,AIE-CNPy-AD might be an ideal alternative for early AD diagnosis and highly reliable monitoring of AD progression.