%0 Journal Article
%A Santos, Harrison D. A.
%A Zabala Gutiérrez, Irene
%A Shen, Yingli
%A Lifante, José
%A Ximendes, Erving
%A Laurenti, Marco
%A Méndez González, Diego
%A Melle Hernández, Sonia
%A Gómez Calderón, Óscar
%A López Cabarcos, Enrique
%A Fernández Monsalve, Nuria
%A Chavez Coria, Irene
%A Lucena Agell, Daniel
%A Monge, Luis
%A Mackenzie, Mark D.
%A Marqués Hueso, José
%A Jones, Callum M. S.
%A Jacinto, Carlos
%A Rosal, Blanca, del
%A Kar, Ajoy K.
%A Rubio Retama, Jorge
%A Jaque García, Daniel
%T Ultrafast photochemistry produces superbright short-wave infrared dots for low-dose in vivo imaging
%D 2020
%@ 2041-1723
%U https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/6329
%X Optical probes operating in the second near-infrared window (NIR-II, 1,000-1,700 nm), where tissues are highly transparent, have expanded the applicability of fluorescence in the biomedical field. NIR-II fluorescence enables deep-tissue imaging with micrometric resolution in animal models, but is limited by the low brightness of NIR-II probes, which prevents imaging at low excitation intensities and fluorophore concentrations. Here, we present a new generation of probes (Ag2S superdots) derived from chemically synthesized Ag2S dots, on which a protective shell is grown by femtosecond laser irradiation. This shell reduces the structural defects, causing an 80-fold enhancement of the quantum yield. PEGylated Ag2S superdots enable deep-tissue in vivo imaging at low excitation intensities (<10 mW cm−2) and doses (<0.5 mg kg−1), emerging as unrivaled contrast agents for NIR-II preclinical bioimaging. These results establish an approach for developing superbright NIR-II contrast agents based on the synergy between chemical synthesis and ultrafast laser processing.
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