Abstract
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is one of the top three specific neurological disorders, requiring reliable, rapid, and sensitive imaging of brain vessels, tissues, and cells for effective diagnosis and treatment. Although the use of medical imaging such as computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for the TBI detection is well established, the exploration of novel TBI imaging techniques is of great interest. In this review, recent advances in fluorescence imaging for the diagnosis and evaluation of TBI are summarized and discussed in three sections: imaging of cerebral vessels, imaging of brain tissues and cells, and imaging of TBI-related biomarkers. Design strategies for probes and labels used in TBI fluorescence imaging are also described in detail to inspire broader applications. Moreover, the multimodal TBI imaging platforms combining MRI and fluorescence imaging are also briefly introduced. It is hoped that this review will promote more studies on TBI fluorescence imaging, and enable its use for clinical diagnosis as early as possible, helping TBI patients get better treatment and rehabilitation.
Introduction
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) refers to a brain damage caused by trauma, usually occurring in traffic accidents, falls, violent blows, sports, and combat (; ; ). As one of the top three specific neurological disorders worldwide, TBI has become a huge public problem that threatens human health and life. Currently, more than 50 million people suffer from TBI every year, which puts a heavy burden on their families and the whole society (). During the TBI process, the initial impact causes both primary and secondary injuries. Primary injuries include cerebral concussion, cerebral contusion, laceration, and penetrating wounds that occur immediately as a result of direct mechanical damage (; ; ). On the other hand, some pathophysiological processes, such as post-traumatic neurotransmitter release, free radical generation, mitochondrial dysfunction, inflammatory response, abnormal coagulation function, and blood−brain barrier damage, subsequently cause secondary brain injuries and lead to cerebrovascular and neurological disorders (; ; ). Therefore, rapid and sensitive imaging of brain tissues, cerebrovascular vessels, and cells is particularly important for the diagnosis and treatment of TBI.
Medical imaging including computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the most used imaging modality for TBI (; ; ). CT is capable of objectively reflecting the size, shape, and distribution of brain tissues, while MRI can provide a higher level of anatomical detail of brain tissues for noninvasive and longitudinal assessment of vessel occlusion, tissue injury, and hemodynamics (; ). However, the radiation and carcinogenic risks to the CT examiners cannot be ignored, especially for special populations such as pediatric patients (). Moreover, challenges remain in the MRI technology concerning the scanning protocols (e.g., spatial vs. temporal resolution), analytical approaches, contrast agents, and sensitivity (; ). Therefore, the development and application of new imaging techniques for TBI is of great interest.
Fluorescence imaging has attracted increasing attention in biological imaging because of its high spatial and temporal resolution, remarkable contrast, sensitivity, simplicity, and noninvasiveness (; ; ; ). With the rapid development of optical technology in the past two decades, the resolution of fluorescence imaging has experienced a dramatical improvement and reached up to the single nanometer scale (; ; ). The probes and labels employed for fluorescence imaging have also flourished, offering excitation ranges from single photon to two and even three photons, while the emission window has been extended to the near-infrared II (NIR-II, 1000–1700 nm) region (; ; ; ; ; ; ). Herein, we review recent advances in fluorescence imaging as a promising technique for the diagnosis and evaluation of TBI. To be specific, this review summarizes the current utilization and performance of fluorescence imaging for visualizing cerebral vessels, brain tissues and cells, and TBI-related biomarkers (Scheme 1). The design strategies for TBI imaging since 2008 are described and discussed in detail. Additionally, multimodal imaging platforms based on the combination of MRI and fluorescence imaging for the detection of TBI are also briefly presented. Our goal is to help researchers stay abreast of current advances of TBI fluorescence imaging and understand the potential opportunities and challenges.
SCHEME 1
Imaging of Cerebral Vessels
In patients with craniocerebral injury, cerebral ischemia is the most common pathological change in secondary brain injuries, and is caused by the immediate decrease in cerebral blood flow (CBF). Peri-contusion ischemia is suggested to be induced by vasoconstriction, microvascular compression, and cerebral microvascular obstruction. To achieve sufficient spatial and temporal resolution, earlier studies raised the utility of in vivo fluorescence microscopy (IVM) for the investigation of vascular activities and vessel diameters in the microcirculation after TBI (
The challenges of in vivo fluorescence imaging include light absorption and scattering, autofluorescence, and low depth penetration. To overcome these obstacles, near-infrared (NIR, 650–1700 nm) fluorescence imaging techniques, especially NIR-II (1000–1700 nm) fluorescence imaging, have been developed successively. The development of NIR fluorophores is closely related to the application of NIR fluorescence imaging in biological and medical fields. An effective strategy for constructing NIR fluorophores is to incorporate donor–acceptor–donor structures to reduce the band gap of fluorophores. For instance, a NIR-II fluorophore (IR-E1) was designed with benzo[1,2-c:4,5-c′]bis([1,2,5]thiadiazole) (BBTD) as the acceptor and thiophene-based moiety as the donor (
Besides the NIR emission, NIR excitation can also be used for deep tissue imaging. Two-photon fluorescence (2PF) imaging is usually performed by two-photon NIR excitation, which is a nonlinear process with a square dependence on the intensity of excitation light, allowing for three-dimensional (3D) tissue imaging with high spatial and temporal resolution. Meanwhile, the low-energy two-photon NIR excitation light has less damages to the tissues and deeper penetration depth. Schwarzmaier et al. (
In addition, organic fluorophores with large multiphoton absorption cross section and high fluorescence quantum efficiency are capable of achieving both NIR excitation and emission. For example, Liu group developed an ultrasmall single-chain conjugated polymer dots (CPdots) with NIR-II excitation and bright NIR-I (700–950 nm) emission for deep in vivo two-photon fluorescence imaging of intact mouse brain (
Imaging of Brain Cells and Tissues
TBI could induce the blood–brain barrier (BBB) disruption and neuroinflammations via regulating the lipid peroxidation and induction of oxidative stress to induce cell death and further disability of patient as the results of the secondary injury of TBI (
Neuroinflammatory responses (e.g., microglia/macrophage activation) could be induce by TBI, which is regarded as a key factor in the secondary injury cascade following TBI. Immunofluorescence staining is a classic method to investigate the mechanism of TBI-induced neuroinflammatory responses (
Another efficient methodology for the visual analysis of TBI is fluorescence protein expression. Yellow fluorescent protein (YFP) has been expressed under the promoter for the classically activated (M1) and alternatively activated (M2) macrophages for the identification of macrophage subset, demonstrating the heterogeneous polarization of the macrophage response to TBI (
Cerebral cell death is the major neuropathological basis in TBI, and apoptosis and autophagic cell death account for a considerable proportion. Molecular imaging for selective detection of apoptosis in experimental TBI was reported as early as 2008 (
Imaging of Biomarkers
Medical imaging techniques hardly provide an accurate prediction of the effects of brain injury (secondary injury) due to long-term impacts and heterogeneous nature of TBI (
Neuroinflammation as one of the earliest hallmark features of TBI can cause an increased oxygen consumption and a hypoxic state in BV-2 cells. A dramatic decrease in mitochondrial pH appears as a result of cellular anaerobic respiration. To monitor pH changes, a ratiometric fluorescence probe (FRET-pH) was developed by covalently linking 6-hydroxy-quinoline-2-benzothiazole (ADN) as a fluorescent donor to a derivative of Rh6G (SRhB) as a fluorescent acceptor and a response group (
TBI-associated neuroinflammation can also cause sustained oxidative stress (OT) to produce reactive oxygen species (ROS), including HOCl, ONOO−, etc. The general strategy for detecting mitochondrial ROS is similar to that for detecting mitochondrial pH. For example, Liu et al. synthesized a ratiometric two-photon fluorescence probe (Mito-P-OCl) consisting of three moieties: a rhodanol moiety (Rhod-c), a dihydrazide moiety, and a quaternized pyridine moiety (
Multimodal Imaging
Medical imaging including CT, MRI, X-ray is the most used imaging modality for TBI without any surgery (
FIGURE 1

Multimodal fluorescence and magnetic resonance imaging of passive accumulation and retention in a mouse traumatic brain injury model. Adapted and modified with permission from ref (
Conclusion and Outlook
Over the past decade, various fluorescence imaging techniques for TBI diagnosis have made considerable progress due to their abilities to directly detect and visualize brain microstructures (e.g., blood vessels, tissues, and cells) and to track dynamic changes during TBI injury, treatment, and rehabilitation. It overcomes the deficiency of strong radiation, low resolution and low sensitivity of conventional brain MRI and CT, showing great clinic potentials in the diagnosis and treatment of TBI. Superior to conventional fluorescence imaging in the visible and NIR-I spectral range (400–900 nm), NIR II fluorescence imaging greatly reduces tissue scattering, light absorption, and autofluorescence, allowing deeper tissue penetration, higher spatial resolution, and dynamic in vivo imaging of the brain without craniotomy. In addition, the appearance of organic fluorophores with large photon absorption cross sections and high fluorescence quantum efficiency has also greatly promoted the development of two-photon or even three-photon imaging for TBI diagnosis. With the continuous development of fluorescence imaging technology, researchers have begun to explore novel multimodal probes (e.g., fluorescence/MRI dual-modal probe) to achieve complementary parameters, so as to make more accurate diagnosis and effective treatment of TBI.
Notably, challenges remain in translating the TBI fluorescence imaging platform from the research setting to more practical devices and clinical applications. Hence, more investigations and innovations are necessary to develop universal fluorescent dyes, improve the operability of the method, and reduce professional and technical requirements. NIR II or multi-photon fluorescence imaging can be regarded an ideal candidate for in vivo and in situ imaging of brain. In order to achieve full-scale and high-quality imaging of the brain through the scalp and skull, fluorophores with higher quantum yield should be designed and developed. Another promising strategy is the combining of fluorescence imaging with other imaging techniques (e.g., MRI, CT, and X-ray). The multimodal imaging system can provide a more accurate and comprehensive reference for the diagnosis and treatment of TBI, especially for the secondary brain injury after TBI. In addition, the neurotoxicity of fluorescent probes must be considered when performing brain imaging. The effects of the developed fluorescent probes on human health and brain function are unclear, which also limits the pace of clinical applications of fluorescent imaging.
Compared with brain structure (blood vessel, tissue, etc.) imaging, the identification and detection of TBI-associated biomarkers can provide a more accurate molecular level diagnosis of TBI, which is the key to the early diagnosis of craniocerebral injury. The identified biomarkers allow us to measure the extent of damage and monitor the recovery process from brain injury. It is worth noting that the biomarkers released at different time periods of the occurrence and development of TBI are different, thus further explore about the optimum detection moment for different types of biomarkers is of great significance in assessing the injury and prognosis of patients with TBI.
Statements
Author contributions
All authors listed have made a substantial, direct, and intellectual contribution to the work and approved it for publication.
Funding
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21804094 and 21804006), the Scientific Research Project of Beijing Educational Committee (KM201910028015), the Beijing Natural Science Foundation (2212013), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (buctrc201820).
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
References
1
BarbacciD. C.RouxA.MullerL.JacksonS. N.PostJ.BaldwinK.et al (2017). Mass Spectrometric Imaging of Ceramide Biomarkers Tracks Therapeutic Response in Traumatic Brain Injury. ACS Chem. Neurosci.8, 2266–2274. 10.1021/acschemneuro.7b00189
2
BonyB. A.MillerH. A.TarudjiA. W.GeeC. C.SarellaA.NicholsM. G.et al (2020). Ultrasmall Mixed Eu-Gd Oxide Nanoparticles for Multimodal Fluorescence and Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Passive Accumulation and Retention in TBI. ACS Omega5, 16220–16227. 10.1021/acsomega.0c01890
3
BoutsM. J. R. J.WuO.DijkhuizenR. M. (2017). “Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Stroke,” in “Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Stroke” in Primer on Cerebrovascular Diseases. Editor CaplanL. R. (Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier Inc., Academic Press), 328–332. 10.1016/b978-0-12-803058-5.00069-2
4
BrixG.NekollaE. A. (2012). in “Radiation Exposure and Risk Associated with CT Examinations” in Multislice-CT of the Abdomen. Editor ZechC. J. (New York Dordrecht London: Springer Heidelberg Academic Press), 25–36. 10.1007/174_2011_405
5
BrodyD. L.Mac DonaldC. L.ShimonyJ. S. (2015). “Current and Future Diagnostic Tools for Traumatic Brain Injury,” in Handbook of Clinical Neurology. Editors GrafmanJ.SalazarA. M. (Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier B.V.Academic Press), 267–275. 10.1016/b978-0-444-52892-6.00017-9
6
BrownA. C.LavikE.StabenfeldtS. E. (2019). Biomimetic Strategies to Treat Traumatic Brain Injury by Leveraging Fibrinogen. Bioconjug. Chem.30, 1951–1956. 10.1021/acs.bioconjchem.9b00360
7
DengG.PengX.SunZ.ZhengW.YuJ.DuL.et al (2020). Natural-Killer-Cell-Inspired Nanorobots with Aggregation-Induced Emission Characteristics for Near-Infrared-II Fluorescence-Guided Glioma Theranostics. ACS Nano14, 11452–11462. 10.1021/acsnano.0c03824
8
DuJ.LiW.LuK.XiaoB. (2016). An Overview of Multi-Modal Medical Image Fusion. Neurocomputing215, 3–20. 10.1016/j.neucom.2015.07.160
9
FengY.ZhangX. D.ZhengG.ZhangL. J. (2019). Chemotherapy-Induced Brain Changes in Breast Cancer Survivors: Evaluation with Multimodality Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Brain Imaging Behav.13, 1799–1814. 10.1007/s11682-019-00074-y
10
GhoshS.GargS.GhoshS. (2020). Cell-Derived Exosome Therapy: A Novel Approach to Treat Post-Traumatic Brain Injury Mediated Neural Injury. ACS Chem. Neurosci.11, 2045–2047. 10.1021/acschemneuro.0c00368
11
GlotfeltyE. J.DelgadoT. E.Tovar-Y-RomoL. B.LuoY.HofferB. J.OlsonL.et al (2019). Incretin Mimetics as Rational Candidates for the Treatment of Traumatic Brain Injury. ACS Pharmacol. Transl. Sci.2, 66–91. 10.1021/acsptsci.9b00003
12
GuoB.FengZ.HuD.XuS.MiddhaE.PanY.et al (2019). Precise Deciphering of Brain Vasculatures and Microscopic Tumors with Dual NIR‐II Fluorescence and Photoacoustic Imaging. Adv. Mater.31, 1902504–1902508. 10.1002/adma.201902504
13
HånellA.GreerJ. E.McGinnM. J.PovlishockJ. T. (2015). Traumatic Brain Injury-Induced Axonal Phenotypes React Differently to Treatment. Acta Neuropathol.129, 317–332. 10.1007/s00401-014-1376-x
14
HsiehC. L.KimC. C.RybaB. E.NiemiE. C.BandoJ. K.LocksleyR. M.et al (2013). Traumatic Brain Injury Induces Macrophage Subsets in the Brain. Eur. J. Immunol.43, 2010–2022. 10.1002/eji.201243084
15
HungC.-J.YaoC.-L.ChengF.-C.WuM.-L.WangT.-H.HwangS.-M. (2010). Establishment of Immortalized Mesenchymal Stromal Cells with Red Fluorescence Protein Expression for In Vivo Transplantation and Tracing in the Rat Model with Traumatic Brain Injury. Cytotherapy12, 455–465. 10.3109/14653240903555827
16
JamesA. P.DasarathyB. V. (2014). Medical Image Fusion: A Survey of the State of the Art. Inf. Fusion19, 4–19. 10.1016/j.inffus.2013.12.002
17
JiY.JonesC.BaekY.ParkG. K.KashiwagiS.ChoiH. S. (2020). Near-Infrared Fluorescence Imaging in Immunotherapy. Adv. Drug Deliv. Rev.167, 121–134. 10.1016/j.addr.2020.06.012
18
KatzenbergerR. J.LoewenC. A.WassarmanD. R.PetersenA. J.GanetzkyB.WassarmanD. A. (2013). A Drosophila Model of Closed Head Traumatic Brain Injury. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci.110, E4152–E4159. 10.1073/pnas.1316895110
19
KaurM.SinghD. (2020). Multi-Modality Medical Image Fusion Technique Using Multi-Objective Differential Evolution Based Deep Neural Networks. J. Ambient Intell. Hum. Comput.12, 2483–2493. 10.1007/s12652-020-02386-0
20
KimJ. J.GeanA. D. (2011). Imaging for the Diagnosis and Management of Traumatic Brain Injury. Neurotherapeutics8, 39–53. 10.1007/s13311-010-0003-3
21
KudryashevJ. A.WaggonerL. E.LengH. T.MininniN. H.KwonE. J. (2020). An Activity-Based Nanosensor for Traumatic Brain Injury. ACS Sens.5, 686–692. 10.1021/acssensors.9b01812
22
KwonE. J.SkalakM.Lo BuR.BhatiaS. N. (2016). Neuron-Targeted Nanoparticle for SiRNA Delivery to Traumatic Brain Injuries. ACS Nano10, 7926–7933. 10.1021/acsnano.6b03858
23
LamP. K.LoA. W. I.WangK. K. W.LauH. C. H.LeungK. K. C.LiK. T. C.et al (2013). Transplantation of Mesenchymal Stem Cells to the Brain by Topical Application in an Experimental Traumatic Brain Injury Model. J. Clin. Neurosci.20, 306–309. 10.1016/j.jocn.2012.03.028
24
LeedsP. R.YuF.WangZ.ChiuC.-T.ZhangY.LengY.et al (2014). A New Avenue for Lithium: Intervention in Traumatic Brain Injury. ACS Chem. Neurosci.5, 422–433. 10.1021/cn500040g
25
LelyveldV. S.AtanasijevicT.JasanoffA. (2010). Challenges for Molecular Neuroimaging with MRI. Int. J. Imaging Syst. Technol.20, 71–79. 10.1002/ima.20221
26
LiB.ZhouX.YiT.-L.XuZ.-W.PengD.-W.GuoY.et al (2020). Bloodletting Puncture at Hand Twelve Jing-Well Points Improves Neurological Recovery by Ameliorating Acute Traumatic Brain Injury-Induced Coagulopathy in Mice. Front. Neurosci.14, 403. 10.3389/fnins.2020.00403
27
LiC.ChenG.ZhangY.WuF.WangQ. (2020). Advanced Fluorescence Imaging Technology in the Near-Infrared-II Window for Biomedical Applications. J. Am. Chem. Soc.142, 14789–14804. 10.1021/jacs.0c07022
28
LiC.LiW.LiuH.ZhangY.ChenG.LiZ.et al (2020). An Activatable NIR‐II Nanoprobe for In Vivo Early Real‐Time Diagnosis of Traumatic Brain Injury. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed.59, 247–252. 10.1002/anie.201911803
29
LiW.ChenR.LvJ.WangH.LiuY.PengY.et al (2018). In Vivo Photoacoustic Imaging of Brain Injury and Rehabilitation by High-Efficient Near-Infrared Dye Labeled Mesenchymal Stem Cells with Enhanced Brain Barrier Permeability. Adv. Sci.5, 1700277. 10.1002/advs.201700277In
30
LiX.ShiL.LiL.DongC.LiC.-z.ShuangS. (2019). Recent Advances in Carbon Nanodots: Properties and Applications in Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment. J. Anal. Test.3, 37–49. 10.1007/s41664-019-00089-w
31
LindbergD. M.StenceN. V.GrubenhoffJ. A.LewisT.MirskyD. M.MillerA. L.et al (2019). Feasibility and Accuracy of Fast MRI versus CT for Traumatic Brain Injury in Young Children. Pediatrics144, e20190419. 10.1542/peds.2019-0419
32
LiuH.-W.ChenL.XuC.LiZ.ZhangH.ZhangX.-B.et al (2018). Recent Progresses in Small-Molecule Enzymatic Fluorescent Probes for Cancer Imaging. Chem. Soc. Rev.47, 7140–7180. 10.1039/c7cs00862g
33
LiuM.GuB.WuW.DuanY.LiuH.DengX.et al (2020). Binary Organic Nanoparticles with Bright Aggregation-Induced Emission for Three-Photon Brain Vascular Imaging. Chem. Mater.32, 6437–6443. 10.1021/acs.chemmater.0c01577
34
LiuX.DuanY.LiuB. (2021). Nanoparticles as Contrast Agents for Photoacoustic Brain Imaging. Aggregate2, 4–19. 10.1002/agt2.26
35
MaasA. I. R.MenonD. K.AdelsonP. D.AndelicN.BellM. J.BelliA.et al (2017). Traumatic Brain Injury: Integrated Approaches to Improve Prevention, Clinical Care, and Research. Lancet Neurol.16, 987–1048. 10.1016/S1474-4422(17)30371-X
36
MaasA. I. R.MenonD. K.AdelsonP. D.AndelicN.BellM. J.BelliA.et alTraumatic Brain Injury: Integrated Approaches to Improve Prevention, Clinical Care, and Research. Lancet Neurol.16, 987–1048. 10.1016/S1474-4422(17)30371-X
37
MaoL.SunL.SunJ.SunB.GaoY.ShiH. (2021). Ethyl Pyruvate Improves White Matter Remodeling in Rats after Traumatic Brain Injury. CNS Neurosci. Ther.27, 113–122. 10.1111/cns.13534
38
MondelloS.MullerU.JerominA.StreeterJ.HayesR. L.WangK. K. (2011). Blood-Based Diagnostics of Traumatic Brain Injuries. Expert Rev. Mol. Diagn.11, 65–78. 10.1586/erm.10.104
39
MondelloS.ThelinE. P.ShawG.SalzetM.VisalliC.CizkovaD.et al (2018). Extracellular Vesicles: Pathogenetic, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Value in Traumatic Brain Injury. Expert Rev. Proteomics15, 451–461. 10.1080/14789450.2018.1464914
40
ObenausA.NgM.OrantesA. M.Kinney-LangE.RashidF.HamerM.et al (2017). Traumatic Brain Injury Results in Acute Rarefication of the Vascular Network. Sci. Rep.7, 239. 10.1038/s41598-017-00161-4
41
OzawaT.YoshimuraH.KimS. B. (2013). Advances in Fluorescence and Bioluminescence Imaging. Anal. Chem.85, 590–609. 10.1021/ac3031724
42
QinW.AlifuN.LamJ. W. Y.CuiY.SuH.LiangG.et al (2020). Facile Synthesis of Efficient Luminogens with AIE Features for Three‐Photon Fluorescence Imaging of the Brain through the Intact Skull. Adv. Mater.32, 2000364. 10.1002/adma.202000364
43
ReadnowerR. D.ChavkoM.AdeebS.ConroyM. D.PaulyJ. R.McCarronR. M.et al (2010). Increase in Blood-Brain Barrier Permeability, Oxidative Stress, and Activated Microglia in a Rat Model of Blast-Induced Traumatic Brain Injury. J. Neurosci. Res.88, 3530–3539. 10.1002/jnr.22510
44
ReshefA.ShirvanA.ShohamiE.GrimbergH.LevinG.CohenA.et al (2008). Targeting Cell Death In Vivo in Experimental Traumatic Brain Injury by a Novel Molecular Probe. J. Neurotrauma25, 569–580. 10.1089/neu.2007.0341
45
SchomannT.IljasJ. D.QueI.LiY.SuidgeestE.CruzL. J.et al (2020). Multimodal Imaging of Hair Follicle Bulge-Derived Stem Cells in a Mouse Model of Traumatic Brain Injury. Cell Tissue Res.381, 55–69. 10.1007/s00441-020-03173-1
46
SchwarzmaierS. M.GallozziM.PlesnilaN. (2015). Identification of the Vascular Source of Vasogenic Brain Edema Following Traumatic Brain Injury Using In Vivo 2-Photon Microscopy in Mice. J. Neurotrauma32, 990–1000. 10.1089/neu.2014.3775
47
SchwarzmaierS. M.KimS.-W.TraboldR.PlesnilaN. (2010). Temporal Profile of Thrombogenesis in the Cerebral Microcirculation after Traumatic Brain Injury in Mice. J. Neurotrauma27, 121–130. 10.1089/neu.2009.1114
48
ShahJ. V.GondaA.PemmarajuR.SubashA.Bobadilla MendezC.BergerM.et al (2020). Shortwave Infrared-Emitting Theranostics for Breast Cancer Therapy Response Monitoring. Front. Mol. Biosci.7, 569415. 10.3389/fmolb.2020.569415
49
ShinS. S.HuismanT. A. G. M.HwangM. (2018). Ultrasound Imaging for Traumatic Brain Injury. J. Ultrasound Med.37, 1857–1867. 10.1002/jum.14547
50
SmithB. A.XieB.-W.Van BeekE. R.QueI.BlankevoortV.XiaoS.et al (2012). Multicolor Fluorescence Imaging of Traumatic Brain Injury in a Cryolesion Mouse Model. ACS Chem. Neurosci.3, 530–537. 10.1021/cn3000197
51
SongX.LiC.WangY.WangD.LiuZ. (2020). A Ratiometric Two-Photon Fluorescence Probe for Monitoring Mitochondrial HOCl Produced during the Traumatic Brain Injury Process. Sensors Actuators B: Chem.311, 127895. 10.1016/j.snb.2020.127895
52
TakahataK.KimuraY.SaharaN.KogaS.ShimadaH.IchiseM.et al (2019). PET-detectable Tau Pathology Correlates with Long-Term Neuropsychiatric Outcomes in Patients with Traumatic Brain Injury. Brain142, 3265–3279. 10.1093/brain/awz238
53
Treble-BarnaA.ZangH.ZhangN.TaylorH. G.YeatesK. O.WadeS. (2017). Long-Term Neuropsychological Profiles and Their Role as Mediators of Adaptive Functioning after Traumatic Brain Injury in Early Childhood. J. Neurotrauma34, 353–362. 10.1089/neu.2016.4476
54
VillapolS.LoaneD. J.BurnsM. P. (2017). Sexual Dimorphism in the Inflammatory Response to Traumatic Brain Injury. Glia65, 1423–1438. 10.1002/glia.23171
55
WangK. K.YangZ.ZhuT.ShiY.RubensteinR.TyndallJ. A.et al (2018). An Update on Diagnostic and Prognostic Biomarkers for Traumatic Brain Injury. Expert Rev. Mol. Diagn.18, 165–180. 10.1080/14737159.2018.1428089
56
WangS.LiuJ.FengG.NgL. G.LiuB. (2019). NIR‐II Excitable Conjugated Polymer Dots with Bright NIR‐I Emission for Deep In Vivo Two‐Photon Brain Imaging through Intact Skull. Adv. Funct. Mater.29, 1808365. 10.1002/adfm.201808365
57
WilsonA. J.DevasiaD.JainP. K. (2020). Nanoscale Optical Imaging in Chemistry. Chem. Soc. Rev.49, 6087–6112. 10.1039/d0cs00338g
58
WolfbeisO. S. (2015). An Overview of Nanoparticles Commonly Used in Fluorescent Bioimaging. Chem. Soc. Rev.44, 4743–4768. 10.1039/c4cs00392f
59
WöllD.FlorsC. (2017). Super-Resolution Fluorescence Imaging for Materials Science. Small Methods1, 1700191. 10.1002/smtd.201700191
60
XieB.-W.ParkD.Van BeekE. R.BlankevoortV.OrabiY.QueI.et al (2013). Optical Imaging of Cell Death in Traumatic Brain Injury Using a Heat Shock Protein-90 Alkylator. Cell Death Dis.4, e473. 10.1038/cddis.2012.207
61
YangL.GuoL.YuH.WangG.SunJ.ZhangP.et al (2021). Organic Nanocrystals Based on a Solid-Emission-Tunable AIEgen for Cell Imaging. Chem. Res. Chin. Univ.37, 129–136. 10.1007/s40242-020-0346-1
62
ZhaiB.ZhaiS.HaoR.XuJ.LiuZ. (2019). A FRET-Based Two-Photon Probe for In Vivo Tracking of pH during a Traumatic Brain Injury Process. New J. Chem.43, 17018–17022. 10.1039/c9nj04049h
63
ZhangX.-D.WangH.AntarisA. L.LiL.DiaoS.MaR.et al (2016). Traumatic Brain Injury Imaging in the Second Near-Infrared Window with a Molecular Fluorophore. Adv. Mater.28, 6872–6879. 10.1002/adma.201600706
64
ZhangY.SchroederL. K.LessardM. D.KiddP.ChungJ.SongY.et al (2020). Nanoscale Subcellular Architecture Revealed by Multicolor Three-Dimensional Salvaged Fluorescence Imaging. Nat. Methods17, 225–231. 10.1038/s41592-019-0676-4
Summary
Keywords
traumatic brain injury, inflammation, molecular diagnostics, biomarkers, nanomaterial, imaging
Citation
Lu F, Cao J, Su Q, Zhao Q, Wang H, Guan W and Zhou W (2021) Recent Advances in Fluorescence Imaging of Traumatic Brain Injury in Animal Models. Front. Mol. Biosci. 8:660993. doi: 10.3389/fmolb.2021.660993
Received
30 January 2021
Accepted
11 May 2021
Published
26 May 2021
Volume
8 - 2021
Edited by
Yang Li, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), China
Reviewed by
Shuhui Liu, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, United States
Pengfei Zhang, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), China
Updates

Check for updates
Copyright
© 2021 Lu, Cao, Su, Zhao, Wang, Guan and Zhou.
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Weijiang Guan, wjguan@mail.buct.edu.cn; Wenjuan Zhou, zhouwenjuan@cnu.edu.cn
This article was submitted to Nanobiotechnology, a section of the journal Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences
Disclaimer
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.