A novel zwitterionic near-infrared (NIR) dye, ZWCC, has been designed and synthesized. It shows significantly enhanced photostability and chemical stability compared to the existing zwitterionic NIR dye. In addition, the feasibility of labeling ZWCC with biological ligands was investigated and used in live cell imaging applications.
The present invention relates to compositions for and methods of optically imaging tissues or cells using imaging agents having desirable in vivo properties that result in improved signal-to-background ratio.