Physics

Combinatorial chemistry

Optics

Luminescence

Crosstalk

Chemistry

Optoelectronics

Biochemistry

Duplex (building)

Journal of the American Chemical Society

Real-time multiplex imaging is imperative to biology and diagnosis but remains challenging for optical modality. Herein, a unimolecular chemo-fluoro-luminescent reporter (CFR) is synthesized for duplex imaging of drug-induced hepatotoxicity (DIH), a long-term medical concern. CFR simultaneously detects superoxide anion (O2•–) and caspase-3 (casp3) through respective activation of its independent chemiluminescence and near-infrared fluorescence channels. Such a crosstalk-free duplex imaging capability of CFR enables longitudinal measurement of two correlated biomolecular events (oxidative stress and cellular apoptosis) during the progression of DIH, identifying O2•– as an earlier biomarker for detection of DIH both in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, CFR detects DIH 17.5 h earlier than histological changes. Thus, our study not only develops a sensitive optical reporter for early detection of DIH but also provides a general molecular design strategy for duplex imaging.

Unimolecular Chemo-fluoro-luminescent Reporter for Crosstalk-Free Duplex Imaging of Hepatotoxicity