Dynamic monitoring of the fibrosis disease by a collagen targeting near infrared probe

Abstract

The deposition of the extracellular matrix, especially collagen, and the elevated expression levels of reactive oxygen species, including H₂O₂, are the main features of fibrosis. Fibrosis can occur in many tissues, such as tumor and liver tissues. The deposition of collagen in the location of lesions not only leads to immunological rejection and supports liver fibrosis and tumor progression, but also provides unique physiological signals with the progression of fibrosis and tumor. However, at present, the detection of fibrosis, especially real time detection, is greatly difficult, making it important to develop noninvasive probes for the dynamic monitoring of fibrosis progression. Herein, we propose a H₂O₂ responsive macromolecular probe for collagen imaging with high sensitivity and specificity. This probe consists of a collagen-targeting peptide and a H₂O₂-sensitive and near-infrared (NIR)-emitting macromolecular optical probe, which could effectively bind to collagen both in vitro and in vivo in the region of tumor or fibrotic liver tissues, allowing for high sensitivity and noninvasive visualization of fibrotic tissues and real time monitoring of collagen degradation after anti-fibrotic drug treatment.