Fluorescent Nanoparticles for Targeted Tumor Imaging and DNA Tracking Gene Delivery In Vitro/In Vivo.

Fluorescence detection is desirable to track the gene transfer process in order to explain the mechanism. Here, a fluorescent nanoparticle, diketopyrrolopyrrole-based liposome (DPL), was prepared for DNA delivery and tumor imaging in vitro and in vivo. The process to deliver DNA into cells was detected in real time by DPL according to the fluorescent property. The transfection efficacies (TEs) for luciferase and enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) analysis of DPL were 1.5 times those of the commercial transfection agent Lipo 2000. Importantly, the DPL/DNA system has high EGFP TE in vivo with tumor targeting ability. This work provided an effective strategy for monitoring transfection processes.

Imaging nucleus viscosity and G-quadruplex DNA in living cells using a nucleus-targeting two-photon fluorescent probe.

A two-photon fluorescent probe, TP-2Bz, was designed and synthesized and it exhibited good targeting capabilities toward cell nuclei. In particular, TP-2Bz demonstrated a high selectivity to both G-quadruplex DNA and viscosity inside the nucleus with significant ratiometric enhancement in fluorescence, providing a specific, versatile imaging tool for analyzing the viscosity and G-quadruplex DNA in living cells.