Cited by 623Luminescence and Fluorescent MaterialsOptical Imaging and Spectroscopy TechniquesMolecular Sensors and Ion Detection

A high quantum yield molecule-protein complex fluorophore for near-infrared II imaging

Open access
Antaris, Alexander L., Chen, Hao, Diao, Shuo, Ma, Zhuoran, Zhang, Zhe, Zhu, Shoujun, Wang, Joy, Lozano, Alexander X. +7 more·2017·Nature Communications

Abstract

Fluorescence imaging in the second near-infrared window (NIR-II) allows visualization of deep anatomical features with an unprecedented degree of clarity. NIR-II fluorophores draw from a broad spectrum of materials spanning semiconducting nanomaterials to organic molecular dyes, yet unfortunately all water-soluble organic molecules with >1,000 nm emission suffer from low quantum yields that have limited temporal resolution and penetration depth. Here, we report tailoring the supramolecular assemblies of protein complexes with a sulfonated NIR-II organic dye (CH-4T) to produce a brilliant 110-fold increase in fluorescence, resulting in the highest quantum yield molecular fluorophore thus far. The bright molecular complex allowed for the fastest video-rate imaging in the second NIR window with ∼50-fold reduced exposure times at a fast 50 frames-per-second (FPS) capable of resolving mouse cardiac cycles. In addition, we demonstrate that the NIR-II molecular complexes are superior to clinically approved ICG for lymph node imaging deep within the mouse body.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1038/ncomms15269

Cites

3 of 3 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Tail fluorescence emission sometimes allows high-contrast imaging with current organic SWIR fluorophores.

    “This tail fluorescence emission sometimes allows high-contrast imaging with current organic SWIR fluorophores.29,34,96,219,220”

    From The Pursuit of Shortwave Infrared-Emitting Nanoparticles with Bright Fluorescence through Molecular Design and Excited-State Engineering of Molecular Aggregates (2022) · cites this paper as [220]

    The Results section, “Deep lymph node imaging with CH-4T complexes” (page unavailable), reports high-contrast NIR-II imaging with the organic CH-4T–protein fluorophore, including a signal-to-background ratio of approximately 13 for deep lymph nodes. The paper does not identify tail fluorescence emission as the reason for that contrast; it describes CH-4T as a dye whose emission peaks in the NIR-II window. (LLM, conf=0.84)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 36

  1. Hong G.. Ultrafast fluorescence imaging in vivo with conjugated polymer fluorophores in the second near-infrared window. Nat. Commun. 5, 4206 (2014). 24947309
  2. Antaris A. L.. A small-molecule dye for NIR-II imaging. Nat. Mater. 15, 235– 242 (2016). 26595119
  3. Hong G.. Through-skull fluorescence imaging of the brain in a new near-infrared window. Nat. Photonics 8, 723– 730 (2014). 27642366 PMC5026222
  4. Hong G.. Multifunctional in vivo vascular imaging using near-infrared II fluorescence. Nat. Med. 18, 1841– 1846 (2012). 23160236 PMC3595196
  5. Yi H.. M13 phage-functionalized single-walled carbon nanotubes as nanoprobes for second near-infrared window fluorescence imaging of targeted tumors. Nano Lett. 12, 1176– 1183 (2012). 22268625 PMC3905603
  6. Dang X.. Layer-by-layer assembled fluorescent probes in the second near-infrared window for systemic delivery and detection of ovarian cancer. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 113, 5179– 5184 (2016). 27114520 PMC4868435
  7. Hong G.. Near-Infrared II fluorescence for imaging hindlimb vessel regeneration with dynamic tissue perfusion measurement. Circ. Cardiovasc. Imaging 7, 517– 525 (2014). 24657826 PMC4079035
  8. Sun Y.. Novel benzo-bis(1,2,5-thiadiazole) fluorophores for in vivo NIR-II optical imaging. Chem. Sci. 7, 6203– 6207 (2016). PMC6024204 30034761
  9. Hof M., Hutterer R. & Fidler V. Fluorescence Spectroscopy in Biology: advanced Methods and Their Applications to Membranes, Proteins, DNA, and Cells Springer (2005).
  10. Umezawa K., Nakamura Y., Makino H., Citterio D. & Suzuki K. Bright, color-tunable fluorescent dyes in the visible-near-infrared region. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 130, 1550– 1551 (2008). 18193873
  11. Diao S.. Fluorescence imaging in vivo at wavelengths beyond 1500 nm. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 54, 14758– 14762 (2015). 26460151
  12. Chen J.. Direct water-phase synthesis of lead sulfide quantum dots encapsulated by β-lactoglobulin for in vivo second near infrared window imaging with reduced toxicity. Chem. Commun. 52, 4025– 4028 (2016). 26888668
  13. Kong Y.. Highly fluorescent ribonuclease-A-encapsulated lead sulfide quantum dots for ultrasensitive fluorescence in vivo imaging in the second near-infrared window. Chem. Mater. 28, 3041– 3050 (2016). 27212793 PMC4869608
  14. Bhasikuttan A. C., Mohanty J., Nau W. M. & Pal H. Efficient fluorescence enhancement and cooperative binding of an organic dye in a supra-biomolecular host-protein assembly. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 46, 4120– 4122 (2007). 17443829
  15. Ifft J. B. Sedimentation equilibrium of proteins in density gradients. Biophys. Chem. 5, 137– 157 (1976). 9163
  16. Hutteman M.. Optimization of near-infrared fluorescent sentinel lymph node mapping for vulvar cancer. Am. J. Obstet. Gynecol. 206, 89.e1–5 (2012). 21963099 PMC3246078
  17. Bardhan N. M., Ghosh D. & Belcher A. M. Carbon nanotubes as in vivo bacterial probes. Nat. Commun. 5, 4918 (2014). 25230005 PMC4349414
  18. Iverson N. M.. In vivo biosensing via tissue-localizable near-infrared-fluorescent single-walled carbon nanotubes. Nat. Nanotechnol. 8, 873– 880 (2013). 24185942 PMC4066962
  19. Yi H. J.. M13 phage-functionalized single-walled carbon nanotubes as nanoprobes for second near-infrared window fluorescence imaging of targeted tumors. Nano Lett. 12, 1176– 1183 (2012). 22268625 PMC3905603
  20. Diao S.. Chirality enriched (12,1) and (11,3) single-walled carbon nanotubes for biological imaging. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 134, 16971– 16974 (2012). 23033937
  21. Ghosh D.. Deep noninvasive imaging and surgical guidance of submillimeter tumors using targeted M13-stabilized single-walled carbon nanotubes. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 111, 13948– 13953 (2014). 25214538 PMC4183329
  22. Tao Z. M.. Biological Imaging using nanoparticles of small organic molecules with fluorescence emission at wavelengths longer than 1000 nm. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 52, 13002– 13006 (2013). 24174264
  23. Hutteman M.. Randomized, double-blind comparison of indocyanine green with or without albumin premixing for near-infrared fluorescence imaging of sentinel lymph nodes in breast cancer patients. Breast Cancer Res. Treat. 127, 163– 170 (2011). 21360075 PMC3667709
  24. Desmettre T., Devoisselle J. M. & Mordon S. Fluorescence properties and metabolic features of indocyanine green (ICG) as related to angiography. Surv. Ophthalmol. 45, 15– 27. 10946079
  25. Kirchher A.-M., Briel A. & Mader K. Stabilization of indocyanine green by encapsulation within micellar systems. Mol. Pharm. 6, 480– 491 (2009). 19228053
  26. Murphy J. E.. PbTe colloidal nanocrystals: synthesis, characterization, and multiple exciton generation. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 128, 3241– 3247 (2006). 16522105
  27. Hatami S.. Absolute photoluminescence quantum yields of IR26 and IR-emissive Cd1−xHgxTe and PbS quantum dots -method- and material-inherent challenges. Nanoscale 7, 133– 143 (2015). 25407424
  28. Benson R. C. & Kues H. A. Fluorescence properties of indocyanine green as related to angiography. Phys. Med. Biol. 23, 159– 163 (1978). 635011
  29. Mordon S., Devoisselle J. M., Soulie-Begu S. & Desmettre T. Indocyanine green: physicochemical factors affecting its fluorescence in vivo. Microvasc. Res. 55, 146– 152 (1998). 9521889
  30. Reja S. I., Khan I. A., Bhalla V. & Kumar M. A TICT based NIR-fluorescent probe for human serum albumin: a pre-clinical diagnosis in blood serum. Chem. Commun. 52, 1182– 1185 (2016). 26601767
  31. Cao C.. A twisted-intramolecular-charge-transfer (TICT) based ratiometric fluorescent thermometer with a mega-Stokes shift and a positive temperature coefficient. Chem. Commun. 50, 15811– 15814 (2014). 25372984
  32. Choi H. S.. Targeted zwitterionic near-infrared fluorophores for improved optical imaging. Nat. Biotechnol. 31, 148– 153 (2013). 23292608 PMC3568187
  33. Choi H. S.. Synthesis and in vivo fate of zwitterionic near-infrared fluorophores. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 50, 6258– 6263 (2011). PMC3128676 21656624
  34. Senarathna J., Rege A., Li N. & Thakor N. V. Laser speckle contrast imaging: theory, instrumentation and applications. IEEE Rev. Biomed. Eng. 6, 99– 110 (2013). 23372086
  35. Sugiyama T., Araie M., Riva C. E., Schmetterer L. & Orgul S. Use of laser speckle flowgraphy in ocular blood flow research. Acta Ophthalmol. 88, 723– 729 (2010). 19725814
  36. Hu S. & Wang L. V. Photoacoustic imaging and characterization of the microvasculature. J. Biomed. Opt. 15, 011101 (2010). 20210427 PMC2821418

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Antaris, A. L., Chen, H., Diao, S., Ma, Z., Zhang, Z., Zhu, S., Wang, J., Lozano, A. X., Fan, Q., Chew, L., Zhu, M., Cheng, K., Hong, X., Dai, H., & Cheng, Z.
Affiliations
  • Stanford University (US)
  • Wuhan University (CN)
  • Stanford Medicine (US)
Corresponding author
  • Hong, Xuechuan
  • Dai, Hongjie
  • Cheng, Zhen
Venue
Nature Communications
Published
2017-05-19
Volume
8
Issue
1
Pages
15269-15269
ISSN
2041-1723 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2614165899
Cited by
623
References
3
Citations by year
2026: 47 · 2025: 54 · 2024: 79 · 2023: 77 · 2022: 73 · 2021: 87 · 2020: 76 · 2019: 66 · 2018: 58 · 2017: 5
FWCI
23.65
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Nature Communications (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • OSTI OAI (U.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders
  • U.S. Department of Energy (DESC0008397)
  • National Natural Science Foundation of China (21390402, 81573383, 2014DFB30020, 81373254, 2015DFA30440)
  • Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China (313040)
  • Wuhan University
  • Wuhan University School of Medicine
  • National Science and Technology Major Project
  • Office of Science (DESC0008397)
  • Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities
  • National Cancer Institute (U54CA119367, CA151459, U54CA151459, DE-SC0008397)
  • National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (DP1NS105737)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Materials Science › Materials Chemistry › Luminescence and Fluorescent Materials
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging › Optical Imaging and Spectroscopy Techniques
  • Physical Sciences › Chemistry › Spectroscopy › Molecular Sensors and Ion Detection
Keywords
NIR-II fluorescence imaging, quantum yield enhancement, supramolecular self-assembly, deep tissue imaging, video-rate imaging, lymph node imaging
MeSH terms
Animals, Female, Fluorescence, Fluorescent Dyes, Ionophores, Lymph Nodes, Mice, Nude, Organic Chemicals, Quantum Theory, Semiconductors, Video Recording, Spectroscopy, Near-Infrared, Nanotubes, Carbon, Nanostructures, Mice, Optical Imaging

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review