Nanoscale Metal–Organic Framework Based Two-Photon Sensing Platform for Bioimaging in Live Tissue

Abstract

Nanoscale metal-organic frameworks (NMOFs) have been applied for biomedical sensing in recent years. However, it is still a great challenge to construct a highly efficient NMOFs fluorescent probe for sensing in a biological system, with high signal-to-noise ratio, photostability, and deep tissue penetration. Herein, for the first time, we report the two-photon metal-organic framework (TP-MOF) as a sensing platform. The design of TP-MOF is based on NMOFs incorporating a target-responsive two-photon organic moiety through click chemistry. PCN-58, as a model building block, was covalently modified with a small-molecule probe for H₂S or Zn²⁺ as model analytes. TP-MOF probes retain the fluorescence-responsive properties of the TP organic moiety and possess excellent photostability and selectivity, as well as biocompatibility. Benefiting from the near-infrared (∼820 nm) excited two-photon fluorophore, TP-MOF probes serve to sense and image their respective targets in live cells and tissue slices with a penetration of 130 μm. The molecular design presented here bodes well for the extension to other MOFs displaying sensing components for other analytes of interest.