Fluorophore-Dapagliflozin Dyad for Detecting Diabetic Liver/Kidney Damages via Fluorescent Imaging and Treating Diabetes via Inhibiting SGLT2.

Type II diabetes is a prevalent disease; if left untreated, it could cause serious complications including liver and kidney damages. Hence, early diagnosis for these damages and effective treatment of diabetes are of high importance. Herein, a fluorophore-dapagliflozin dyad (DX-B-DA) has been developed as a theranostic system that can be triggered by intrahepatic/intrarenal reactive oxygen species (ROS) to concomitantly release a near-infrared (NIR) fluorescent dye (DX) and a SGLT2 inhibitor dapagliflozin (DA). In this dyad (DX-B-DA), the NIR fluorophore (DX) and the drug DA were covalently linked through a boronate ester bond which serves as the fluorescence quencher as well as the ROS-responsive moiety that can be cleaved by pathological levels of ROS in diabetics. The in vitro experiments indicate that, in the absence of hydrogen peroxide, the dyad is weakly emissive and keeps its drug moiety in an inactive state, while upon responding to hydrogen peroxide, the dyad simultaneously releases the NIR dye and the drug DA, suggesting that it can serve as an activatable probe for detecting and imaging diabetic liver/kidney damages as well as a prodrug for diabetes treatment upon being triggered by ROS. The dyad was then injected in mouse model of type II diabetes, and it is found that the dyad can not only offer visualized diagnosis for diabetes-induced liver/kidney damages but also exhibit high efficacy in treating type II diabetes and consequently ameliorating diabetic liver/kidney damages.

A Fluorescent Probe with Aggregation-Induced Emission for Detecting Alkaline Phosphatase and Cell Imaging.

Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) is associated with many diseases, and its accurate detection is of great significance. Fluorescent compounds with aggregation-induced emission (AIE) feature show beneficial advantages for serving as fluorescent probes. Herein, an AIE-active "turn on" probe for ALP detection was synthesized through incorporating a strong electron-withdrawing group (cyano) in the middle and the recognition moiety phosphate group at the end, thereby rendering a D-A-D structure with a relatively high conjugation degree and good water solubility. It was found that the probe TPE-CN-pho is highly sensitive to ALP in aqueous solution. In the presence of ALP, the hydrophilic phosphate group on the probe is rapidly removed, resulting in a decrease in water solubility and subsequent formation of aggregates, thereby achieving aggregation-induced emission. Moreover, the probe TPE-CN-pho has also been successfully applied to imaging ALP in living cells.