The first water-soluble NIR AIEgen was synthesized and used for ultrafast wash-free cellular imaging and photodynamic cancer cell ablation.

Organic nanomaterials with efficient ROS generation and high photothermal conversion efficiency have emerged as a new generation therapeutic agent for PDT/PTT synergistic cancer treatment. However, most of the organic nanomaterials exhibited weak emission in water because of the aggregation-caused quenching (ACQ) effect, which seriously hampers their biological application in fluorescence bioimaging. In this study, we design and synthesize a new organic small molecule (T-BDP) with a donor–acceptor–donor (D–A–D) structure by the conjugation of boron-dipyrromethene (BODIPY) and triphenylamine (TPA). Moreover, a 1,8-naphthalenediimide (NI) structure with electron-withdrawing ability is introduced onto the core of BODIPY to further enhance the intramolecular charge transfer, leading to the redshift of absorption to the near-infrared region. T-BDP displays significant aggregation-induced emission (AIE) performance, probably due to the presence of two twisted TPA groups onto the BODIPY core. Accordingly, after self-assembly into nanoparticles, T-BDP NPs exhibit strong near-infrared emission in water. Under single 635 nm laser irradiation, T-BDP NPs could generate reactive oxygen species and heat simultaneously. The photothermal conversion efficiency of T-BDP NPs is determined to be 50.9%. The low dark toxicity and high photocytotoxicity of T-BDP NPs are verified against A549 cells using the MTT assay and the AM/PI staining method. Due to the strong emission of T-BDP NPs, their accumulation and subcellular localization in cancer cells are observed using a laser confocal fluorescence microscope. The results demonstrate that T-BDP NPs are mainly located in the lysosomes of cancer cells. Thus, the as-prepared small molecule-based AIE nanoparticles hold great potential for fluorescence imaging-guided PDT/PTT synergistic tumor therapy.

Silver staining, which exploits the special bioaffinity and the chromogenic reduction of silver ions, is an indispensable visualization method in biology. It is a most popular method for in‐gel protein detection. However, it is limited by run‐to‐run variability, background staining, inability for protein quantification, and limited compatibility with mass spectroscopic (MS) analysis; limitations that are largely attributed to the tricky chromogenic visualization. Herein, we reported a novel water‐soluble fluorogenic Ag⁺ probe, the sensing mechanism of which is based on an aggregation‐induced emission (AIE) process driven by tetrazolate‐Ag⁺ interactions. The fluorogenic sensing can substitute the chromogenic reaction, leading to a new fluorescence silver staining method. This new staining method offers sensitive detection of total proteins in polyacrylamide gels with a broad linear dynamic range and robust operations that rival the silver nitrate stain and the best fluorescent stains.

For the first time, an AIEgen-conjugated monoclonal antibody is designed for “turn-on” and “wash-free” imaging of EGFR-overexpressed cancer cells.

Photosensitizers are light-sensitive molecules that are highly hydrophobic, which poses a challenge to their use for photodynamic therapy. Hence, considerable efforts have been made to develop carriers for the delivery of PSs. Herein, we synthesized a new theranostic nanoagent (CQDs@PtPor) through the electrostatic interaction between the tetraplatinated porphyrin complex (PtPor) and the negatively charged CQDs. The size and morphology of as-prepared CQDs and CQDs@PtPor were characterized by a series of methods, such as XRD, TEM, XPS, and FTIR spectroscopy. The CQDs@PtPor composite integrates the optical properties of CQDs and the anticancer function of porphyrin into a single unit. The spectral results suggested the effective resonance energy transfer from CQDs to PtPor in the CQDs@PtPor composite. Impressively, the CQDs@PtPor composite showed the stronger PDT effect than that of organic molecular PtPor, suggesting that CQDs@PtPor is advantageous over the conventional formulation, attributable to the enhanced efficiency of 1O2 production of PtPor by CQDs. Thus, this CQDs-based drug nanocarrier exhibited enhanced tumor-inhibition efficacy as well as low side effects in vitro, showing significant application potential in the cancer therapy.