2. Academic Validation
  3. InVivo Brain Imaging of Amyloid-β Aggregates in Alzheimer's Disease with a Near-Infrared Fluorescent Probe

InVivo Brain Imaging of Amyloid-β Aggregates in Alzheimer's Disease with a Near-Infrared Fluorescent Probe

  • ACS Sens. 2021 Mar 26;6(3):863-870. doi: 10.1021/acssensors.0c01914.
Jian Wu 1,  Chenwen Shao 2,  Xiaolian Ye 3,  Xiaojiao Di 1,  Dongdong Li 4,  Hu Zhao 5,  Bing Zhang 6,  Guiquan Chen 3,  Hong-Ke Liu 1,  Yong Qian 1
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 School of Chemistry and Materials Science, Nanjing Normal University, Wenyuan Road 1, Nanjing 210046, China.
  • 2 State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China.
  • 3 State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Model Animal Research Center, Nanjing University, 12 Xuefu Avenue, Nanjing 210061, China.
  • 4 College of Chemical Engineering, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China.
  • 5 School of Pharmaceutical Science, Zhejiang Chinese Medicine University, Hangzhou 311402, China.
  • 6 Department of Radiology, The Affiliated Drum Tower Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing 210008, China.
PMID: 33438997 DOI: 10.1021/acssensors.0c01914
Abstract

Abnormal accumulation of Amyloid-β (Aβ) has been determined to be a critical factor for the progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD), which has motivated the development of new chemical approaches for early sensing and imaging of these Aβ aggregates. Herein, we report a new near-infrared (NIR) fluorescent probe for the selective monitoring of Aβ aggregates in vivo. This novel fluorophore, named CAQ, was based on the curcumin scaffold and was designed by introducing an intramolecular rotation donor and a quinoline functional group. CAQ was an environment-sensitive fluorescent probe that can be used as a reliable chemical tool for NIR imaging of amyloid plaques in a live Caenorhabditis elegans model of AD and in 5× FAD transgenic mice of early amyloid deposition. Our observations indicate that CAQ is promising for providing comprehensive information on neurodegenerative research, thereby promoting a deeper understanding of Alzheimer's pathological processes.

Keywords

Alzheimer’s disease; amyloid-β plaques; brain imaging; in vivo; near-infrared probe.

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