Atherosclerotic plaque rupture is a significant cause of acute cardiovascular events such as
heart attack and stroke, triggered by the decomposition of fiber caps induced by cysteine …

Inflammation triggered by oxidative stress is the main determinant of atherosclerotic plaque
disruption, which is the leading cause of myocardial infarctions and strokes. Hence …

Activatable contrast agents are of ongoing research interest because they offer low
background and high specificity to the imaging target. Engineered sensitivity to protease …

Vulnerable atherosclerotic (AS) plaque is the major cause of cardiovascular death.
However, clinical methods cannot directly identify the vulnerable AS plaque at molecule …

Early diagnosis is crucial to the treatment of cancer. Cathepsin B (CTB) plays an important
role in numerous cancers, which is a promising biomarker for early diagnosis of cancer. It is …

Herein, we for the first time report a novel activatable photoacoustic (PA) imaging nano-
probe for in vivo detection of cancer-related matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs). A black hole …

Activatable photoacoustic probes efficiently combine the high spatial resolution and
penetration depth of ultrasound with the high optical contrast and versatility of molecular …

Photoacoustic tomography is a rapidly growing imaging modality that can provide images of
high spatial resolution and high contrast at depths up to 5 cm. We report here the design …

Objective—There is hope that molecular imaging can identify vulnerable atherosclerotic
plaques. However, there is a paucity of clinical translational data to guide the future …

Cathepsin B (CTSB) is a lysosomal protease that is overexpressed in the early stage of
many cancer types. Precise evaluation of CTSB expression in vivo may provide a promising …