Ultrafast photochemistry produces superbright short-wave infrared dots for low-dose in vivo imaging
Creators
- Harrisson D. A. Santos
- Irene Zabala Gutiérrez
- Yingli Shen
- José Lifante
- Erving Ximendes
- Marco Laurenti
- Diego Méndez-González
- Sonia Melle
- Oscar G. Calderón
- Enrique López Cabarcos
- Nuria Fernández
- Irene Chaves-Coira
- Daniel Lucena-Agell
- Luis Monge
- Mark D. Mackenzie
- José Marqués-Hueso
- Callum M. S. Jones
- Carlos Jacinto
- Blanca del Rosal
- Ajoy K. Kar
- Jorge Rubio-Retama
- Daniel Jaque
Description
Optical probes operating in the second near-infrared window (NIR-II, 1,000-1,700 nm), where tissues are highly transparent, have expanded the applicability of fluorescence in the biomedical field. NIR-II fluorescence enables deep-tissue imaging with micrometric resolution in animal models, but is limited by the low brightness of NIR-II probes, which prevents imaging at low excitation intensities and fluorophore concentrations. Here, we present a new generation of probes (Ag2S superdots) derived from chemically synthesized Ag2S dots, on which a protective shell is grown by femtosecond laser irradiation. This shell reduces the structural defects, causing an 80-fold enhancement of the quantum yield. PEGylated Ag2S superdots enable deep-tissue in vivo imaging at low excitation intensities (<10 mW cm−2) and doses (<0.5 mg kg−1), emerging as unrivaled contrast agents for NIR-II preclinical bioimaging. These results establish an approach for developing superbright NIR-II contrast agents based on the synergy between chemical synthesis and ultrafast laser processing.
Files
Santos_etal_NatComm_Zenodo.pdf
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(3.5 MB)
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