Near-infrared AIEgens for lipid droplets imaging in corpus adiposum or trachea of Locusta migratoria and its application in photodynamic therapy

• Published in: Sensors and actuators. B, Chemical Chemical, 2020-11, Vol.322, p.128589, Article 128589
• Main Authors: Zhang, Fei, Liu, Yaoming, Yang, Binsheng, Wen, Guangming, Liu, Bin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Charge transfer; Chemical compounds; Chemical synthesis; Corpus adiposum; Droplets; Fluorescence; Lipid droplets; Lipids; Molecular structure; Near infrared radiation; Near-infrared; Photodynamic therapy; Trachea; Visualization; White light
• ISSN: 0925-4005; 1873-3077
• DOI: 10.1016/j.snb.2020.128589

[Display omitted] •Three novel near-infrared AIE compounds were synthesized.•These AIEgens can target LDs in PC12 cells, corpus adiposum and trachea.•These AIE molecules can be applied in PDT on cancer cells.•Provide a visual tool to judge the success of gene knockout technology. To recognize the lipid droplets (LDs) on the surface of trachea and realize the visualization of trachea, three TPA-based red/NIR fluorophores with high electron donor-acceptor (D-A) strength were designed and synthesized. These molecules showed donor-donor-π-acceptor (D1-D2-π-A) structure with the character of twisted intramolecular charge transfer (TICT). The photophysical experiment displayed that they had aggregation-induced emission (AIE) performance with red/NIR fluorescence. These AIEgens showed high sensitivity to LDs in living PC12 cells and excised corpus adiposum of Locusta migratoria. The visualization of the trachea is realized due to the large number of LDs distributed on the surface. Also, such compounds can effectively produce reactive oxygen species (ROS) with the irradiation of white light, demonstrating the potential photodynamic therapy (PDT) application on cancer cells. Moreover, the simulated experiment of ROS transferring from LDs simulator (trioctanoin) to cytoplasmic matrix (PBS) was carried out.