pH Induced Self-assembly of AIE Fluorescent Probe for Tumor Imaging

This work reported an AIE fluorescent probe for tumor imaging based on the pH induced self-assembly strategy. The fluorescent probe was composed of an acid-responsive soluble copolymer PEG- b -PAMA-DMMA with a maleic acid amide group and an anionic soluble aggregation-induced emission fluorogen (AIEgen) TPE-2SO 3 − . The polymer could be transformed into a protonated amine-containing polymer after the hydrolysis of maleic acid amide in acidic tumor microenvironment, which would be further self-assembled with TPE-2SO 3 − to form aggregated nanoparticles. The transition of TPE-2SO 3 − from dispersed state to aggregated state led to an obvious increase in fluorescence intensity due to its AIE characteristics.