FLUORESCENT PROBES FOR CANCER CELLS IMAGING AND ABLATION

Abstract

Fluorescence technology has rapidly grown with the development of microscope technology and advanced fluorescent materials. Compared with typical imaging methods, fluorescence imaging shows various advantages, such as high sensitivity, low-cost, easy to operate. And it has been widely applied for the diagnosis and treatment of diseases. Recently, fluorogens with aggregation-induced emission (AIE) characteristics are promising for bioimaging due to its unique photophysical features. This thesis aims to develop high-performance probes with red/NIR fluorescence for specific imaging and photodynamic ablation of cancer cells and tissues. Some general strategies for developing advanced fluorescent materials have been demonstrated, and fluorescent probes with efficient imaging and therapy performance have been fabricated. The applications of these probes have been expanded from simple bioimaging to both imaging and therapy. In addition, we have successfully demonstrated the imaging level varying from in vitro to in vivo, from organelles to cells.