High-fidelity imaging of drug-induced acute gastritis by using a fluorescent and photoacoustic dual-modal probe with good stability in stomach acid

Talanta. 2025 Jan 1:281:126860. doi: 10.1016/j.talanta.2024.126860. Epub 2024 Sep 10.

Abstract

In consideration of deep tissue imaging and signal fidelity, fluorescent-photoacoustic (PA) dual-modal probes are much more desirable. However, dual-modal imaging of gastritis using molecular probes remains a challenge due to the harsh gastric acid environment in the stomach. Based on the positive correlation between gastritis and cell viscosity, stomach acid-stable and viscosity-activated probes could potentially diagnose gastritis. As a proof of concept, herein, a fluorescent and photoacoustic dual-modal probe (named WSP-1) is revealed for the imaging of drug-induced acute gastritis in vivo. WSP-1 exhibits viscosity-dependent fluorescence emission and photoacoustic signals. A rotatable C-C single bond is incorporated into the D-π-A structure of WSP-1, which could facilitate the formation of the twisted intramolecular charge transfer (TICT) state in a low-viscosity environment (weak fluorescence/PA signal) and the intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) state in a high-viscosity environment (strong fluorescence/PA signal). WSP-1 has demonstrated the capability to target mitochondria and can be utilized to monitor the viscosity enhancement of cells during inflammation. Most importantly, WSP-1 exhibits good optical and structural stability in gastric acid. By leveraging these desirable features of WSP-1, we have achieved fluorescent and 3D photoacoustic in situ imaging of drug-induced acute gastritis following oral administration of WSP-1.

Keywords: Acute gastritis imaging; Dual-modal imaging; Fluorescent probe; Orally administrable probe; Photoacoustic probe.

MeSH terms

  • Acute Disease
  • Animals
  • Fluorescent Dyes* / chemistry
  • Gastric Acid / chemistry
  • Gastric Acid / metabolism
  • Gastritis* / chemically induced
  • Gastritis* / diagnostic imaging
  • Humans
  • Mice
  • Optical Imaging
  • Photoacoustic Techniques* / methods
  • Viscosity

Substances

  • Fluorescent Dyes