A lipid activatable fluorescence probe for atherosclerosis imaging

Lipid has been considered as a promising target for atherosclerosis diagnosis. However, there is still no available lipid imaging technology in clinic. Herein, we have prepared a fluorescence probe TPN for lipid-specific imaging in atherosclerosis. TPN exhibited extremely weak emission in water, while its emission was significantly enhanced in lipid environment at 666 nm. Meanwhile, TPN has showed low cytotoxicity and great intracellular lipid-specific fluorescence imaging ability with high signal-to-noise ratio. Importantly, TPN could specifically stain the lipid in atherosclerotic plaque, which would be a potential candidate for the diagnosis of atherosclerosis.