In vivo near-infrared fluorescence imaging of amyloid-β plaques with a dicyanoisophorone-based probe

•A two-photon probe (DCIP-1) with NIR emission based on dicyanoisophorone group, for the in vivo fluorescence imaging of amyloid-β plaques, was reported.•The probe showed turn-on fluorescence (13-fold) with a large Stokes shift upon inserting into the hydrophobic pockets of Aβ aggregates.•The in vivo imaging studies indicated that the probe can penetrate the blood-brain barrier efficiently and discriminate APP/PS1 transgenic mice from WT controls.

A dicyanoisophorone-based probe with two-photon absorption and NIR emission was developed for the in vivo fluorescence imaging of amyloid-β plaques, which exhibited high selectivity toward Aβ aggregates over other intracellular proteins. The detection limit was calculated to be as low as 109 nM. In vivo imaging studies indicated that the probe could penetrate the blood-brain barrier and label Aβ plaques in the living transgenic mice, and its specific binding to cerebral Aβ plaques was further confirmed by one- and two-photon ex vivo fluorescence imaging. All these results featured its promising application prospects for amyloid-β sensing in basic research and biomedical research.

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