A sulfatase-activatable AIEgen nanoprobe for inhalation imaging-guided surgical excision of lung cancer

Tracking sulfatase in the living organism is beneficial for the diagnosis of sulfatase-overexpressed cancer and understanding the pathological activities of sulfatase. A nanoprobe (DQM-SULF) with AIE signal amplification for imaging of sulfatase activity was rationally developed. The probe could be self-assembled into nanoparticles in the aqueous solution due to the hydrophobic AIE core and hydrophilic sulfatase-recognition unit. DQM-SULF could be activated by the catalytic domain of sulfatase to afford the AIEgen DQM-OH, which can emit the aggregation-induced fluorescence and further bind to the hydrophobic site of sulfatase resulted in a stronger AIE signal. The nanoprobe exhibited a fast response and high sensitivity to sulfatase. Moreover, it was successfully employed in detecting the endogenous overexpressed sulfatase in tumor cells and tumor tissue. Importantly, the sulfatase activity in a mouse metastatic lung tumor model was imaged using DQM-SULF by pulmonary administration, indicating DQM-SULF has the potential to detect cancer cells as the inhalation contrast medium.