Citation: Huihui Wei, Yiming Niu, Mingli Xie, Weining He, Min Chen, Tenghui Wang, Qinhong Jiang, Panfei Xing, Chunming Wang. Photo-bioactivated azido fluorophores for passive and active cell imaging[J]. Chinese Chemical Letters, ;2026, 37(6): 111409. doi: 10.1016/j.cclet.2025.111409 shu

Photo-bioactivated azido fluorophores for passive and active cell imaging

Huihui Wei ^{a, 1} ,
Yiming Niu ^{b, 1} ,
Mingli Xie ^a ,
Weining He ^b ,
Min Chen ^a ,
Tenghui Wang ^a ,
Qinhong Jiang ^a ,
Panfei Xing ^{a, *,} ,
Chunming Wang ^{b, *,}

a.
Henan Key Laboratory of Natural Medicine Innovation and Transformation, Henan University, Kaifeng 475004, China
b.
State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine, Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences, University of Macau, Macau SAR 999078, China

pfxing@henu.edu.cn

cmwang@umac.mo

Received Date: 24 February 2025
Revised Date: 3 June 2025
Accepted Date: 5 June 2025
Available Online: 6 June 2025

Figures(5)

Azido molecules (azidos) have been extensively investigated for their potential as biomedical tools. However, the precise mechanism underlying their intracellular activation remains elusive. In this study, we adopted experimental and computational approaches to demonstrate that this activation mechanism is a photo-bioactivation process, facilitated by intracellular proteins that interact with azidos. Building on these findings, we developed a passive cell-specific fluorescence imaging tool for non-invasive cell tracking within three-dimensional (3D) scaffolds, an active-targeting subcellular organelle imaging system, and a controllable prodrug delivery platform that enables the spatiotemporal regulation of intracellular release and distribution of therapeutic agents. Overall, our study provides the first comprehensive elucidation of the cellular activation mechanism of azidos, which has significant implications for the development of a diverse array of photo-bioactivated tools and prodrugs.
- Photo-bioactivation,
- Azide,
- Cell tracking,
- Bioimaging,
- Prodrug
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