TY - JOUR
T1 - Solvatochromic Near-Infrared Aggregation-Induced Emission-Active Acrylonitriles by Acceptor Modulation for Low-Power Stimulated Emission Depletion Nanoscopy
AU - Cao, Shixian
AU - Tian, Xiaoyuan
AU - Cao, Mingyue
AU - Wang, Jianguo
AU - Niu, Guangle
AU - Tang, Ben Zhong
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 American Chemical Society.
PY - 2023/3/28
Y1 - 2023/3/28
N2 - Stimulated emission depletion (STED) nanoscopy has broadened our horizons to unravel mysterious functions of cellular structures on an unparalleled nanometer scale. Nevertheless, an intense depletion laser power is a general prerequisite for STED super-resolution imaging with a satisfactory resolution, inevitably leading to severe photobleaching of fluorophores, irreparable photodamage to biosamples, and impaired imaging quality. Herein, by modulating distinct acceptor units, a series of donor-acceptor-acceptor structured fluorescent acrylonitriles featured with aggregation-induced emission (AIE) for STED super-resolution imaging at a low depletion power were systematically developed. These AIE luminogens (AIEgens) exhibited tunable near-infrared emissions (650-733 nm) and high fluorescence quantum yields (QYs of up to 26.8%) in the solid state, significant Stokes shifts, and large two-photon absorption cross-sections. They also exhibited a typical solvatochromic effect and ultrahigh QYs of up to 98.4% in low-polarity solvents. Furthermore, these lipophilic solvatochromic acrylonitriles specifically lit up lipid droplets (LDs) with exceptionally high photostability in a wash-free manner. By taking TPA-BT-ANBI as an example, the STED super-resolution imaging of LDs with excellent resolution of 62 and 80 nm for cytosolic and nuclear LDs, respectively, at a low saturation depletion power of 0.83 MW/cm2 and extended time-lapse imaging of LD dynamics was achieved. Subsequent use of TPA-BT-ANBI for the optical discrimination of fatty liver tissues and two-photon deep-tissue imaging was also demonstrated. This study opens new avenues for versatile photostable materials at low depletion powers for target-specific STED super-resolution imaging.
AB - Stimulated emission depletion (STED) nanoscopy has broadened our horizons to unravel mysterious functions of cellular structures on an unparalleled nanometer scale. Nevertheless, an intense depletion laser power is a general prerequisite for STED super-resolution imaging with a satisfactory resolution, inevitably leading to severe photobleaching of fluorophores, irreparable photodamage to biosamples, and impaired imaging quality. Herein, by modulating distinct acceptor units, a series of donor-acceptor-acceptor structured fluorescent acrylonitriles featured with aggregation-induced emission (AIE) for STED super-resolution imaging at a low depletion power were systematically developed. These AIE luminogens (AIEgens) exhibited tunable near-infrared emissions (650-733 nm) and high fluorescence quantum yields (QYs of up to 26.8%) in the solid state, significant Stokes shifts, and large two-photon absorption cross-sections. They also exhibited a typical solvatochromic effect and ultrahigh QYs of up to 98.4% in low-polarity solvents. Furthermore, these lipophilic solvatochromic acrylonitriles specifically lit up lipid droplets (LDs) with exceptionally high photostability in a wash-free manner. By taking TPA-BT-ANBI as an example, the STED super-resolution imaging of LDs with excellent resolution of 62 and 80 nm for cytosolic and nuclear LDs, respectively, at a low saturation depletion power of 0.83 MW/cm2 and extended time-lapse imaging of LD dynamics was achieved. Subsequent use of TPA-BT-ANBI for the optical discrimination of fatty liver tissues and two-photon deep-tissue imaging was also demonstrated. This study opens new avenues for versatile photostable materials at low depletion powers for target-specific STED super-resolution imaging.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85149005646&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1021/acs.chemmater.2c03684
DO - 10.1021/acs.chemmater.2c03684
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85149005646
SN - 0897-4756
VL - 35
SP - 2472
EP - 2485
JO - Chemistry of Materials
JF - Chemistry of Materials
IS - 6
ER -