Bright Far‐Red/Near‐Infrared Conjugated Polymer Nanoparticles for In Vivo Bioimaging |
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| Authors: | Dan Ding Jie Liu Guangxue Feng Kai Li Yong Hu Bin Liu |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, National University of Singapore, 117576, Singapore;2. Institute of Materials Research Engineering, 3 Research Link, 117602, Singapore;3. National Laboratory of Solid‐State Microstructure, Department of Material Science and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China |
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| Abstract: | A highly emissive far‐red/near‐infrared (FR/NIR) fluorescent conjugated polymer (CP), poly(9,9‐dihexylfluorene)‐co‐2,1,3‐benzothiadiazole‐co‐4,7‐di(thiophen‐2‐yl)‐2,1,3‐benzothiadiazole] (PFBTDBT10) is designed and synthesized via Suzuki polymerization. Formulation of PFBTDBT10 using 1,2‐distearoyl‐sn‐glycero‐3‐phosphoethanolamine‐N‐methoxy(polyethylene glycol)‐2000] (DSPE‐PEG2000) and DSPE‐PEG5000‐folate as the encapsulation matrix yielded CP‐loaded DSPE‐PEG‐folic acid nanoparticles (CPDP‐FA NPs) with bright FR/NIR fluorescence (27% quantum yield) and a large Stoke's shift of 233 nm in aqueous solution. CPDP‐FA NPs show improved thermal/photostabilities and larger Stoke's shifts as compared to commercially available quantum dots (Qdot 655) and organic dyes such as Alexa Fluor 555 and Rhodamine 6G. In vivo studies of CPDP‐FA NPs on a hepatoma H22 tumor‐bearing mouse model reveal that they could serve as an efficient FR/NIR fluorescent probe for targeted in vivo fluorescence imaging and cancer detection in a high contrast and specific manner. Together with the negligible in vivo toxicity, CPDP‐FA NPs are promising FR/NIR fluorescent probes for future in vivo applications. |
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| Keywords: | conjugated polymers FR/NIR emission fluorescent probes in vivo fluorescence imaging in vivo toxicity |
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