γ-Glutamyltransferase-Activatable Fluoro-Photoacoustic Reporter for Highly Sensitive Diagnosis of Acute Liver Injury and Tumor

Abstract

γ-Glutamyltransferase (GGT) has been recognized as an important clinical biomarker that is closely related to many diseases. Visualizing the GGT fluctuation facilitates early disease-related diagnosis and therapy. Herein, an activated probe (<b>NIR-GGT</b>) for the imaging of GGT activity was prepared. The probe consists of a stable NIR fluorophore with the tunable amino group decorated with the γ-glutamate group as a GGT-sensing unit linked by a self-elimination group. <b>NIR-GGT</b> can sensitively recognize GGT and cause a strong turn-on fluorescent and photoacoustic signal. The up-regulation of the GGT expression in acetaminophen-induced acute liver injury was imaged using <b>NIR-GGT</b>. The probe can track changes in the GGT level in the early stages of drug-induced acute liver injury (DIALI) and its remedy process by fluorescent and photoacoustic dual-modality imaging with a high temporal-spatial resolution. <b>NIR-GGT</b> can also be used to differentiate between tumor and <i>para</i>-carcinowa tissues in vivo. The probe may be a potential tool for the diagnosis of early-stage DIALI and accurate tumor resection in the clinical field.