In Vivo Bioluminescence Imaging of Cobalt Accumulation in a Mouse Model

Since cobalt contributes to physiological and pathological processes, the underlying mechanism of the correlation between its biological occurrence/trafficking and healthy and disease status is still unclear. Therefore, the detection of cobalt in the environmental system and living organs has drawn intensive attention. In this content, a number of techniques are known to be widely applied in cobalt analysis, such as HPLC, flame atomic absorption spectroscopy (FAAS), spectrophotography, and adsorptive voltammetric and inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP - AES). However, the bulk traditional analysis methods typically require sophisticated sample preparation procedures, highly trained individuals, and costly instruments. More importantly, none of them are compatible with living organisms.

Among these collections, the optical probes, due to good sensitivity and bioavailability, construct a great figure as a valuable chemical tool to effectively monitor and track analytes of interest in the biological specimens/living organisms and therefore are extremely beneficial for the broader scientific community. To date, some fluorescent and colorimetric probes have been reported for the detection of cobalt, and none of them has been applied to in vivo imaging. Therefore, there is an urgent demand on developing novel strategies for monitoring cobalt flux, in particular, in the whole animal.

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