Imaging of γ-Glutamyl Transferase in Cardiovascular Diseases with a Photoacoustic Probe.

In this work, a photoacoustic (PA) probe, , was developed for the imaging of cardiovascular diseases by monitoring the γ-glutamyl transferase (GGT) dynamics. exhibited a stable PA signal with auxiliary absorbance and NIRF variation after the trigger by GGT. In all three modalities of absorbance, NIRF, and PA, could quantitatively reflect the GGT level. In PA modality, indicated the practical advantages including high sensitivity, high stability, and high specificity. In living oxidized low-density lipoprotein-induced RAW264.7 cells, indicated proper capability for imaging the plaques by visualizing the GGT dynamics. Moreover, during imaging in living model mice, was achieved to distinguish the plaques from healthy blood vessels via a multiview PA presentation. could also suggest the severity of plaques in the extracted aorta from the model mice, which was consistent with the histological staining results. The information herein might be useful for future investigations on cardiovascular diseases.