Vimentin-targeting AIEgen-peptide conjugates: Wash-free fluorescence detection of EMT-type cancer cells and tissues

Epithelial-mesenchymal transitions (EMT)-type cancer cells are related to chemoresistance, metastasis and tumor relapse in various kinds of cancers. Vimentin is one kind of cytoskeletal proteins that play important roles during cancer metastasis and high-expressed in EMT-type cells. Presently, prevalent immunoassays for detecting EMT-type cancer cells are expensive and inconvenient, and novel methods that can simply and sensitively identify cells of this vital type are still needed. In this work, we designed and synthesized a pair of pure Z/E isomers of vimentin-targeting TPE-peptide conjugates. The difference of optical features between these stereo isomeric probes was investigated. Furthermore, methods for convenient and selective detection of EMT-type cancer cells and tissues were successfully developed through wash-free fluorescence detection using these probes.