Elastic fibers are present in a variety of tissues and are responsible for their resilience. Until now, no optical contrast agent in the near-infrared (NIR) wavelength range of 700–900 nm has been reported for the imaging of elastic fibers. Here, we report the discovery of a NIR zwitterionic elastin probe ElaNIR (elastin NIR) through fluorescent-image-based screening. The probe was successfully applied for in vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo imaging by various imaging modalities. Age-related elastin differences shown by in vivo fluorescent and photoacoustic imaging indicated that ElaNIR can be a potentially convenient tool for uncovering changes of elastin in live models.

弹性纤维存在于各种组织中，并对其弹性负责。到目前为止，还没有关于弹性纤维成像的700-900 nm近红外（NIR）波长范围内的光学造影剂的报道。在这里，我们报告通过基于荧光图像的筛选的近红外两性离子弹性蛋白探针ElaNIR（弹性蛋白NIR）的发现。该探针已通过各种成像方式成功地用于体外，离体和体内成像。体内荧光和光声成像显示的与年龄相关的弹性蛋白差异表明，ElaNIR可能是揭示活体模型中弹性蛋白变化的潜在便捷工具。