Cysteine (Cys), as one of the important amino acids, plays a vital role in various physiological and pathological processes. Hence, it is meaningful to develop a convenient and sensitive detection method. Herein, a novel BODIPY-based fluorescent probe (BDP-DM) was developed, which had a higher selectivity for Cys than other amino acids, including homocysteine (Hcy) and glutathione (GSH). Ultimately, we concluded that the BDP-DM probe could be used to successfully detected intracellular Cys in living HeLa cells.
Keywords: BODIPY; bioimaging; cysteine; fluorescent probe.