A nucleus-targeting fluorescence probe for rapid diagnosis of colorectal cancer

Due to non-specific signs in the early stage of colorectal cancers, most patients result in a low early diagnosis rate. Survivin protein is upregulated in many malignant tumors, making it an ideal diagnostic and therapeutic target for colorectal cancers. However, the survivin protein is located in the cell nucleus, which needs the probe to penetrate the complex nuclear membrane structure for targeting and recognizing. Here, we have developed a sub-100 nm perovskite-based fluorescent probe modified with the survivin antibody, which can freely target survivin protein through the nuclear membrane. Polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) coated perovskite crystals are obtained by the supersaturated crystallization, which keep the probe with great fluorescence intensity and resistance of water and oxygen. We have established colorectal cancer cell lines and colorectal cancer tissues to test the feasibility and efficacy of the probe. After investigating the fluorescence intensity values of 20 probing samples, the average fluorescence intensity of colorectal cancer sections is 8.7 times higher than that of paracancerous tissues. Our work demonstrates that the survivin can be an ideal fluorescence target for rapid diagnosis of colorectal cancer, which also provides a research foundation for fluorescence-guided surgery and nanotherapy for targeting the survivin protein.