Abstract
Redox processes are indispensable for physiology, and dysregulated redox balance is critical in various metabolic diseases. The development of imaging diagnosis tools for real-time monitoring of the redox state in vivo is of great importance yet highly challenging. Here, we designed trifluoromethyl (-CF(3)) grafted selenide polymer nanoprobes for reversible redox sensing in vivo. Based on the reversible shift of the (19)F-nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) peak between oxidation and reduction states of the nanoprobes exposed to different redox species, the (19)F-magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) signal ratio of S (Ox)/(S (Ox) + S (Red)) was successfully applied to monitor the redox state in a tumor. These nanoprobes demonstrated good biocompatibility and great potential for exploring physiological and pathological redox processes in deep tissues. We envision that this work will enable the rational design of (19)F-MRI nanoprobes with excellent redox response for the real-time monitoring of the redox state at the lesion location.