It is imperative to develop reliable in vivo chiral discrimination methods to detect enantiomer D-cysteine (D-Cys) involved in brain chemistry to further understand its functions in pathological and physiological events in brains. We herein fabricated an integrated polymer dots (Pdots)-based nanoprobe, BFD@Ch-pdots, derived from newly designed chrial polymer and Cys-responsive dye for ratiometric imaging D-Cys in cells and brains. The Pdots exhibited high enantioselectivity, good biocompatibility, and efficient blood-brain barrier (BBB) penetration. The result demonstrates that D-Cys level is substantially elevated in AD mice brains.
