Tetrapeptide self-assembled multicolor fluorescent nanoparticles for bioimaging applications

The biocompatibility and biodegradability of peptide self-assembled materials makes them suitable for many biological applications, such as targeted drug delivery, bioimaging, and tracking of therapeutic agents. According to our previous research, self-assembled fluorescent peptide nanoparticles can overcome the intrinsic optical properties of peptides. However, monochromatic fluorescent nanomaterials have many limitations as luminescent agents in biomedical applications. Therefore, combining different fluorescent species into one nanostructure to prepare fluorescent nanoparticles with multiple emission wavelengths has become a very attractive research area in the bioimaging field. In this study, the tetrapeptide Trp-Trp-Trp-Trp (WWWW) was self-assembled into multicolor fluorescent nanoparticles (TPNPs). The results have demonstrated that TPNPs have the blue, green, red and near infrared (NIR) fluorescence emission wavelength. Moreover, TPNPs have shown excellent performance in multicolor bioimaging, biocompatibility, and photostability. The facile preparation and multicolor fluorescence features make TPNPs potentially useful in multiplex bioanalysis and diagnostics.