Imaging of Lipid Droplets in Living Cells and Mice with Metabolic Dysfunction‐Associated Steatotic Liver Disease via a Galactose‐Modified Supramolecular Near‐Infrared Fluorescent Glycoprobe

Abstract Metabolic dysfunction‐associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) has become an important liver disease worldwide due to the rising rate of type 2 diabetes, obesity, and other metabolic disorders. The early detection of MASLD is vital to slow progression to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma; yet, existing research tools for studying hepatic steatosis are limited in terms of their effectiveness and invasiveness. Herein, a near‐infrared (NIR) fluorescent probe, TCF‐FBN, for the selective imaging of lipid droplets (LDs) in MASLD is reported. TCF‐FBN exhibits bright NIR fluorescence and a large Stokes shift in nonpolar solvents, and minimal fluorescence in polar solvents, making it suitable for biological imaging. The probe is bound to bovine serum albumin (BSA) through supramolecular forces to enhance its biocompatibility, and the resulting TCF‐FBN@BSA ensemble is used for fluorescence imaging of LDs generated in hepatocytes. Notably, the modification of TCF‐FBN@BSA with galactosyl ligands producing TCF‐FBN@Gal‐BSA enables the targeted imaging of the liver of mice with MASLD via asialoglycoprotein receptor (ASGPR)‐mediated biorecognition.