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 stereoisomeric 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.

上皮间质转化（EMT）型癌细胞与各种癌症中的化学耐药性，转移和肿瘤复发有关。波形蛋白是一种细胞骨架蛋白，在癌症转移过程中起重要作用，并在EMT型细胞中高表达。当前，用于检测EMT型癌细胞的普遍的免疫测定是昂贵且不便的，并且仍需要能够简单且灵敏地鉴定这种重要类型的细胞的新颖方法。在这项工作中，我们设计并合成了一对纯Z / E靶向波形蛋白的TPE-肽偶联物的异构体。研究了这些立体异构体探针之间的光学特征差异。此外，通过使用这些探针的免洗荧光检测，成功开发了方便且选择性地检测EMT型癌细胞和组织的方法。