Hydrogen sulfide (H2 S) is recognized as an endogenous gaseous signaling agent in many biological activities. Lysosomes are the main metabolic site and play a pivotal role in cells. Herein, we designed and synthesized two new fluorescent probes BDP-DNBS and BDP-DNP with a BODIPY core to distinguish H2 S. The sensing mechanism is based on the inhibition-recovery of the photo-induced electron transfer (PET) process. Through comparing the responsive behaviors of the two probes toward H2 S, BDP-DNBS showed a fast response time (60 s), low limit of detection (LOD, 51 nM), high sensitivity and selectivity. Moreover, the reaction mechanism was demonstrated by mass spectrometry and fluorescence off-on mechanism was proved by density functional theory (DFT). Significantly, confocal fluorescence imaging indicated that BDP-DNBS was successfully used to visualize H2 S in lysosomes in living HeLa cells.
Keywords: BODIPY; fluorescent probes; hydrogen sulfide; lysosomal localization.
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