A mitochondria-targetable two-photon fluorescent probe with a far-red to near-infrared emission for sensing hypochlorite in biosystems

Anal Chim Acta. 2019 Nov 12:1081:184-192. doi: 10.1016/j.aca.2019.07.040. Epub 2019 Jul 24.

Abstract

Hypochlorite (ClO-), one of reactive oxygen species (ROS), is closely related with many physiological and pathological processes. Especially as one of cellular reactive oxygen species in mitochondria, ClO- can induce mitochondrial permeability, which leads to apoptosis. Thus, developing an effective method which is able to sense ClO- in mitochondria is important. Although fluorescent probe has become a powerful tool for imaging ClO- in mitochondria, most of them suffered from phototoxicity to biosamples, autofluorescence, and photobleaching phenomenon due to their short-wavelength excitations and emissions. Based on advantages of two-photon fluorescent probe and far-red to NIR fluorescent probe, a mitochondria-targetable two-photon fluorescent probe with a turn-on signal in far-red to NIR region, Mito-TP-ClO, was developed for ClO- in this paper. Mito-TP-ClO is consisted of a triphenylphosphonium cations as a mitochondria-targetable unit and a structure of dibenzoylhydrazine as a response unit to ClO-. Mito-TP-ClO exhibited a high sensitivity and a high selectivity to ClO-, with a linear range from 6.0 × 10-8 to 1.0 × 10-5 M and a detection limit of 2.5 × 10-8 M. Due to its large two-photon cross section (267 GM) and far-red to NIR emission, Mito-TP-ClO exhibits excellent performances including low autofluorescence, photostable fluorescence signal, and deep tissue penetration (230 μM). Moreover, Mito-TP-ClO was successfully used to detect endogenous ClO- in bacteria-infected cells and inflammatory mouse model, which confirmed that Mito-TP-ClO is a powerful tool to monitor ClO- in mitochondria and study on effects of hypochlorite on mitochondria.

Keywords: Far-red to near-infrared; Fluorescent probe; Hypochlorite; Mitochondria; Two-photon.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Escherichia coli
  • Fluorescence
  • Fluorescent Dyes / chemical synthesis
  • Fluorescent Dyes / chemistry*
  • Fluorescent Dyes / toxicity
  • HeLa Cells
  • Humans
  • Hypochlorous Acid / analysis*
  • Limit of Detection
  • Mice
  • Mitochondria / metabolism*
  • Photons
  • RAW 264.7 Cells

Substances

  • Fluorescent Dyes
  • Hypochlorous Acid