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Near‐Infrared Light‐Initiated Hybridization Chain Reaction for Spatially and Temporally Resolved Signal Amplification
Author(s) -
Chu Hongqian,
Zhao Jian,
Mi Yongsheng,
Zhao Yuliang,
Li Lele
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
angewandte chemie
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1521-3757
pISSN - 0044-8249
DOI - 10.1002/ange.201906224
Subject(s) - chain reaction , signal (programming language) , photon upconversion , biological system , biophysics , nanotechnology , chemistry , materials science , optoelectronics , computer science , biology , photochemistry , luminescence , programming language
Precise control over signal amplification provides unparalleled opportunities for diverse applications. However, spatiotemporally controlled amplification has not been realized because of the lack of a design methodology. The aim of this study was thus to develop a conceptual approach for remote control over signal amplification at a chosen time and site in living cells. This system was constructed by re‐engineering the functional units of the hybridization chain reaction (HCR) and combination with upconversion photochemistry, thus resulting in an activatable HCR with the high spatial and temporal precision of near‐infrared (NIR) light. As a proof of concept, we demonstrate the spatially and temporally resolved amplified imaging of messenger RNA (mRNA) with ultrahigh sensitivity in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, by using a system targeting subcellular sites we have developed a new technique for NIR‐initiated amplified imaging of mRNA exclusively within a specific organelle.