Rational design of chemical tools for in vivo applications via photoacoustic imaging

The combination of activity-based sensing and photoacoustic imaging has allowed for the development of probes that can be used to image enzyme activity (e.g., NTR, FAAH, and MGL), reactive species (e.g., peroxynitrite, nitric oxide, and glutathione) and metal ions (e.g., iron, copper, and calcium). Activity-based sensing leverages the chemical reactivity of biological targets to elicit a readout that can be used to assess the activity of the target. Work in this area has proven to be essential for understanding biological processes and diseases in their native environment. This is made possible by photoacoustic imaging which uses safe, non-ionizing light to generate ultrasound in tissue of live animals. Chapter 1 will introduce how activity-based sensing has been used in the development of various photoacoustic probes. Specifically, this chapter will discuss the design and development of initial work in this area. Chapter 2 will describe work in developing photoacoustic tools for copper sensing in various human disease states. Chapter 3 presents the first application of photoacoustic imaging in the development of companion diagnostics. Importantly, this work introduces a physical organic approach towards probe development. Chapter 4 further establishes the physical organic approach with work that introduces first small-molecule NIR-II photoacoustic probe for in vivo sensing of nitric oxide in murine models of cancer. Lastly, chapter 5 discusses work on understanding the effects of lifestyle habits on inflammation by measuring the activity of fatty acid metabolism using enzyme specific probes. The work herein describes vast applications of photoacoustic imaging and promise in the clinical setting.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Chemistry

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2022

Author dc:creator

• Lucero, Melissa

Contributors dc:contributor

• Chan, Jefferson K
• Zimmerman, Steven
• Han, Hee-Sun
• Chen, Yun-Sheng

• In vivo
• photoacoustic
• imaging
• activity-based
• sensing
• biomedical

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2022 Melissa Lucero

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/116135

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F116135