A visible and near-infrared, dual emission fluorescent probe based on thiol reactivity for selectively tracking mitochondrial glutathione in vitro.

The precise detection of endogenous biothiols such as Glutathione (GSH), Cysteine (Cys) and Homocysteine (HCy) is a long-standing human health concern. A dual-channel fluorescent probe (Cy-DC) composed of two fluorescence reporting units (dicyanomethylene-4H-pyran and cyanine) with ether linker for distinguishing different endogenous biothiols was designed and synthesized. Due to the two well-resolved emission bands, this probe possesses an outstanding capability for selectively sensing of endogenous GSH spatiotemporally and synchronously. Nevertheless, in the near infrared (NIR) channel (λex = 700 nm, λem = 810 nm), the probe can produce strong fluorescence only when it responds to GSH. Besides, the cells (L02 and U87) imaging, it also demonstrated that Cy-DC could successfully discriminate between GSH and Cys/Hcy with high sensitivity with the limit of detection (LOD) is 24 nM and 32 nM (3*SD/K). Particularly, the probe was applied in detecting solid tumor by the naked-eye and NIR imaging successfully, which revealed that the probe has promising prospects in clinical diagnosis applications.

Design and synthesis of NQO1 responsive fluorescence probe and its application in bio-imaging for cancer diagnosis.

As an over-expressed flavoprotein in several kinds of tumor cells, NAD(P)H: quinone oxidoreductase-1 (NQO1) is considered as a potent biomarker in early-stage cancer diagnosis. Developing a fast, selective and sensitive method of monitoring NQO1 on cellular level will greatly promote cancer diagnosis in clinical practice. In this paper, a fast NQO1 responsive fluorescence probe SYZ-30 containing quinone acid and 7-nitro-2,1,3-benzoxadiazole (NBD) fluorophore is constructed. The probe could selectively respond to NQO1 and rapidly emit strong fluorescence in vitro within only 5 min. Notably, the peak fluorescent intensities at 550 nm showed a linear relationship with NQO1 concentrations in the range of 3-30 ng/ml and limit of detection (LOD) was 0.0667 ng/ml. Furthermore, it was validated that the probe has good biocompatibility and could be applied for bio-imaging in NQO1 over-expressed cancer cells, together with its mitochondria targeting ability. Importantly, confocal fluorescence imaging confirmed the NQO1 detection ability on cellular level, which can be used for real-time detection of several cancer subtypes like adenocarcinoma. To conclude, the probe is rapidly responsive, highly sensitive and selective which will potentially become a practical tool for early cancer detection and diagnosis.

Anti-Cancerous Potential of Polyphenol-Loaded Polymeric Nanotherapeutics.

Recent evidence has extensively demonstrated the anticancer potential of nutraceuticals, including plant polyphenols. Polymeric nanocarrier systems have played an important role in improving the physicochemical and pharmacological properties of polyphenols, thus ameliorating their therapeutic effectiveness. This article summarizes the benefits and shortcomings of various polymeric systems developed for the delivery of polyphenols in cancer therapy and reveals some ideas for future work.