Galactose substituted zinc phthalocyanines as near infrared fluorescence probes for liver cancer imaging

Galactose substituted with zinc phthalocyanines were synthesized and characterized as near infrared fluorescent probes. The probes have good water-solubility and high emission ability in the near infrared region. With nudemice bearing liver cancer as models, in vivo fluorescence imaging effects and organ distributions of probes show that zinc phthalocyanines with three or four galactose units have good cell biocompatibility in vitro and targeting effects for liver cancer imaging in vivo. These results show the potential of these near infrared optical probes in the diagnosis of cancer in future.