Fluorescent conjugate of sLe(x)-selective bisboronic acid for imaging application.

Carbohydrate-based biomarkers such as sialyl Lewis X are known to correlate with cancer formation and progression. By targeting sialyl Lewis X, we have developed a boronolectin-fluorophore conjugate, which was able to selectively label and image xenograft (sc) tumor. This represents the very first example that a small molecule capable of recognizing a carbohydrate biomarker was used for optical imaging application.