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Bioconjug Chem. 2008 Aug;19(8):1635-9. Epub 2008 Jul 31.

Near infrared fluorescence-based bacteriophage particles for ratiometric pH imaging.

Hilderbrand SA, Kelly KA, Niedre M, Weissleder R.

Center for Molecular Imaging Research and Center for Systems Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School, USA. Scott_Hilderbrand@hms.harvard.edu

Fluorogenic imaging agents emitting in the near-infrared are becoming important research tools for disease investigation in vivo. Often pathophysiological states such as cancer and cystic fibrosis are associated with disruptions in acid/base homeostasis. The development of optical sensors for pH imaging would facilitate the investigation of these diseased conditions. In this report, the design and synthesis of a ratiometric near-infrared emitting probe for pH quantification is detailed. The pH-responsive probe is prepared by covalent attachment of pH-sensitive and pH-insensitive fluorophores to a bacteriophage particle scaffold. The pH-responsive cyanine dye, HCyC-646, used to construct the probe, has a fluorogenic pKa of 6.2, which is optimized for visualization of acidic pH often associated with tumor hypoxia and other diseased states. Incorporation of pH-insensitive reference dyes enables the ratiometric determination of pH independent of the probe concentration. With the pH-responsive construct, measurement of intracellular pH and accurate determination of pH through optically diffuse biological tissue is demonstrated.

PMID: 18666791 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

PMCID: 2705288

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