Ultrabright quantum dots assisted in vivo NIR-II fluorescence microscopic imaging for brain metastases in triple-negative breast cancer

Abstract

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive and often fatal disease, especially since the brain metastasis of TNBC has been a particularly severe manifestation. However, brain metastasis in TNBC at early stages often lacks noticeable symptoms, making it challenging to detect. Near-infrared II (NIR-II) fluorescence microscopic imaging obtains long wavelength, which enables reduced scattering, high spatial resolution and minimal autofluorescence, it is also a favorable imaging method for tumor diagnosis. PbS@CdS quantum dots (QDs) are one of the popular NIR-II fluorescence nanoprobes for well brightness. In this study, NIR-II emissive PbS@CdS QDs were utilized and further encapsulated with thiol-terminated poly(ethylene oxide) (SH-PEG, MW = 5000) to form PbS@CdS@PEG QDs nanoparticles (NPs). The obtained PbS@CdS@PEG QDs NPs were then characterized and further studied in detail. The PbS@CdS@PEG QDs NPs had large absorption spectra, exhibited strong NIR-II fluorescence emission at approximately 1300[Formula: see text]nm, and possessed good NIR-II fluorescence properties. Then, the mice model of early-stage brain metastases of TNBC was established, and the PbS@CdS@PEG QDs NPs were injected into the tumor-bearing mice for NIR-II fluorescence microscopic bioimaging. The brain vessels and tumors of the living mice were detected with high spatial resolution under the NIR-II fluorescence microscopic imaging system with irradiation of 808[Formula: see text]nm laser. The tumor tissues were further restricted and prepared as thin slices. The NIR-II fluorescence signals were collected from the tumor slices with high spatial resolution and signal-to-background ratio (SBR). Thus, the PbS@CdS@PEG QDs NPs-assisted NIR-II fluorescence microscopic system can effectively achieve targeting brain metastases of TNBC imaging, offering a novel and promising approach for TNBC-specific diagnosis.