Abstract
A new Gadolinium(III)–coumarin complex, DO3A-Gd-CA, was designed and prepared as a dual-modal probe for simultaneous fluorescence and relaxivity responses to fluoride ions (F−) in aqueous media and mice. DO3A-Gd-CA was designed by using Gd(III) center as an MRI signal output unit and fluoride binding site, and the 4-(diethylamino)-coumarin-3-carboxylic acid (CA) as a fluorescence reporter. Upon the addition of fluoride ions to the solution of DO3A-Gd-CA, the liberation of the coordinated CA ligand led to a 5.7-fold fluorescence enhancement and a 75% increase in the longitudinal relaxivity (r1). The fluorescent detection limit for fluoride ions was determined to be 8 μM based on a 3σ/slope. The desirable features of the proposed DO3A-Gd-CA, such as high sensitivity and specificity, reliability at physiological pH and low cytotoxicity enable its application in visualization of fluoride ion in mice. The successful in vivo imaging indicates that DO3A-Gd-CA could be potentially used in biomedical diagnosis fields.
Highlights
Detection and diagnosis of diseases at early stage with a high level of accuracy is the key factor to be considered in biomedical and clinical researches on the treatment of diseases [1,2].The disease biomarkers are often detected at all stages during diseases diagnostic and treatment, while such detection remains a challenge currently [3,4]
A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique is characterized by superb spatial resolution but low sensitivity and requires a high concentration of the contrast agent [11]
Fluorescence imaging, on the other hand, has much higher sensitivity and the potential for real-time imaging, but with limited penetration depth of optical photonics, which restricts their application in the Sensors 2016, 16, 2165; doi:10.3390/s16122165
Summary
Detection and diagnosis of diseases at early stage with a high level of accuracy is the key factor to be considered in biomedical and clinical researches on the treatment of diseases [1,2].The disease biomarkers are often detected at all stages during diseases diagnostic and treatment, while such detection remains a challenge currently [3,4]. Detection and diagnosis of diseases at early stage with a high level of accuracy is the key factor to be considered in biomedical and clinical researches on the treatment of diseases [1,2]. Molecular imaging enables visualization of disease biomarkers and their metabolisms in living systems in real time at various levels from molecules and single cells, to tissues, and organs, which allows detection and differential diagnosis of diseases [5,6]. Fluorescence imaging (FI), have been widely used in clinical diagnostics, biomedical research and molecular imaging fields [7,8,9,10]. A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique is characterized by superb spatial resolution but low sensitivity and requires a high concentration of the contrast agent [11]. Fluorescence imaging, on the other hand, has much higher sensitivity and the potential for real-time imaging, but with limited penetration depth of optical photonics, which restricts their application in the Sensors 2016, 16, 2165; doi:10.3390/s16122165 www.mdpi.com/journal/sensors
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