1 research outputs found
Evolving an Ultra-Sensitive Near-Infrared β‑Galactosidase Fluorescent Probe for Breast Cancer Imaging and Surgical Resection Navigation
Early diagnosis and therapy are clinically crucial in
decreasing
mortality from breast carcinoma. However, the existing probes have
difficulty in accurately identifying the margins and contours of breast
carcinoma due to poor sensitivity and specificity. There is an urgent
need to develop high-sensitive fluorescent probes for the diagnosis
of breast carcinoma and for differentiating tumors from normal tissues
during surgery. β-Galactosidase is a significant biomarker,
whose overexpression is closely associated with the progression of
breast tumors. Herein, we have constructed a β-galactosidase-activated
fluorescent probe NIR-βgal-2 through rational design
and molecular docking engineering simulations. The probe displayed
superior sensitivity (detection limit = 2.0 × 10–3 U/mL), great affinity (Km = 1.84 μM),
and catalytic efficiency (kcat/Km = 0.24 μM–1 s–1) for β-galactosidase. Leveraging this probe,
we demonstrated the differentiation of cancer cells overexpressing
β-galactosidase from normal cells and then applied the probe
for intraoperative guided excision of breast tumors. Moreover, we
exhibited the application of NIR-βgal-2 for the
successful resection of orthotopic breast tumors by “in situ
spraying” and monitored a good prognostic recovery. This work
may promote the application of enzyme-activated near-infrared fluorescent
probes for the development of carcinoma diagnosis and image-guided
surgery