Specific imaging of intracellular hydrogen sulfide by a positively charged NIR fluorescent probe

Jianjun Fang; Xuemei Dong; Lixin Sun; Jie Sun; Chengjun Dong; Rongchen Wang; Chunchang Zhao

doi:10.1016/j.bmcl.2023.129495

Specific imaging of intracellular hydrogen sulfide by a positively charged NIR fluorescent probe

Bioorg Med Chem Lett. 2023 Nov 15:96:129495. doi: 10.1016/j.bmcl.2023.129495. Epub 2023 Oct 2.

Authors

Jianjun Fang¹, Xuemei Dong¹, Lixin Sun¹, Jie Sun¹, Chengjun Dong¹, Rongchen Wang², Chunchang Zhao³

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory for Advanced Materials and Feringa Nobel Prize Scientist Joint Research Center, Institute of Fine Chemicals, School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Frontiers Science Center for Materiobiology and Dynamic Chemistry, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, PR China.
² Key Laboratory for Advanced Materials and Feringa Nobel Prize Scientist Joint Research Center, Institute of Fine Chemicals, School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Frontiers Science Center for Materiobiology and Dynamic Chemistry, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, PR China. Electronic address: 18221952639@163.com.
³ Key Laboratory for Advanced Materials and Feringa Nobel Prize Scientist Joint Research Center, Institute of Fine Chemicals, School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Frontiers Science Center for Materiobiology and Dynamic Chemistry, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, PR China. Electronic address: zhaocchang@ecust.edu.cn.

PMID: 37793498
DOI: 10.1016/j.bmcl.2023.129495

Abstract

The poor water solubility of traditional activatable organic molecular probes usually limits their detection ability in physiological environment. In this work, a positively charged H₂S probe was designed, which exhibited a significantly enhanced responsiveness to H₂S in the aggregated state due to the increased positive charge density on the aggregate surface. Under physiological conditions, the probe could be activated by H₂S with specificity and sensitivity to release near-infrared fluorescence signal. Moreover, endogenous H₂S levels in living cells were successfully monitored by using this probe. We expect that this probe can provide a new strategy for the design of activatable probes to break the limitation of poor water solubility of conventional organic molecular probes.

Keywords: H2S; NIR Fluorescence; Positively charged; Specific imaging.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Fluorescent Dyes*
HeLa Cells
Humans
Hydrogen Sulfide*
Molecular Probes
Optical Imaging
Water

Substances

Fluorescent Dyes
Hydrogen Sulfide
Molecular Probes
Water