Rice University's laboratory creates a new imaging tool with the potential for cancer treatment. Talk about a bright idea: Lighting up the brain is no longer just a figure of speech, thanks to innovative chemists at Rice University and Stanford University. Rice University's Han Xiao and Stanford
Rice University’s Han Xiao and Stanford University’s Zhen Cheng, along with collaborators, have created a non-invasive brain imaging tool that sheds light on previously inaccessible structures and functions. Their unique small-molecule dye, known as a fluorophore, is the first of its kind to penetrate the blood-brain barrier. Furthermore, in a study on mice, the dye was able to distinguish between healthy brain tissue and a glioblastoma tumor.
Zhen Cheng is a researcher at the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica and Stanford University. Credit: Xiao lab/Rice University “Our tool is really valuable for deep imaging because it functions in the NIR-II region,” Xiao said. “In contrast to NIR-II wavelengths, fluorescent effects within the visible spectrum or with near-infrared wavelengths between 600 and 900 nanometers will only get you skin-deep.”
“People always want to know what exactly is happening in the brain, but it’s very hard to design a molecule that can penetrate the blood-brain barrier. Up to 98% of small-molecule drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration cannot,” Xiao said.