Small-molecule probes for fluorescent detection of cellular hypoxia-related nitroreductase

Jian Qiao; Mingying Wang; Menghan Cui; Yuxi Fang; Haonan Li; Chao Zheng; Zhanlin Li; Yongnan Xu; Huiming Hua; Dahong Li

doi:10.1016/j.jpba.2021.114199

Small-molecule probes for fluorescent detection of cellular hypoxia-related nitroreductase

J Pharm Biomed Anal. 2021 Sep 5:203:114199. doi: 10.1016/j.jpba.2021.114199. Epub 2021 Jun 9.

Authors

Jian Qiao¹, Mingying Wang², Menghan Cui², Yuxi Fang², Haonan Li², Chao Zheng³, Zhanlin Li², Yongnan Xu⁴, Huiming Hua⁵, Dahong Li⁶

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Structure-Based Drug Design & Discovery, Ministry of Education, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, 103 Wenhua Road, Shenyang, 110016, PR China; School of Traditional Chinese Materia Medica, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, 103 Wenhua Road, Shenyang, 110016, PR China; School of Pharmaceutical Engineering, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, 103 Wenhua Road, Shenyang, 110016, PR China.
² Key Laboratory of Structure-Based Drug Design & Discovery, Ministry of Education, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, 103 Wenhua Road, Shenyang, 110016, PR China; School of Traditional Chinese Materia Medica, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, 103 Wenhua Road, Shenyang, 110016, PR China.
³ PET Center, Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, United States.
⁴ Key Laboratory of Structure-Based Drug Design & Discovery, Ministry of Education, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, 103 Wenhua Road, Shenyang, 110016, PR China; School of Pharmaceutical Engineering, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, 103 Wenhua Road, Shenyang, 110016, PR China. Electronic address: ynanxu@hotmail.com.
⁵ Key Laboratory of Structure-Based Drug Design & Discovery, Ministry of Education, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, 103 Wenhua Road, Shenyang, 110016, PR China; School of Traditional Chinese Materia Medica, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, 103 Wenhua Road, Shenyang, 110016, PR China. Electronic address: huimhua@163.com.
⁶ Key Laboratory of Structure-Based Drug Design & Discovery, Ministry of Education, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, 103 Wenhua Road, Shenyang, 110016, PR China; School of Traditional Chinese Materia Medica, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, 103 Wenhua Road, Shenyang, 110016, PR China. Electronic address: lidahong0203@163.com.

PMID: 34130009
DOI: 10.1016/j.jpba.2021.114199

Abstract

Nitroreductase is a reductase that catalyzes nitro aromatic compounds to aromatic amines. It effectively reduces nitro to hydroxylamine or amino when in the presence of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide or nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate. In terms of tumor, nitroreductase is upregulated in hypoxic tumor cells, and its content is directly related to the degree of hypoxia. Therefore, effective detection of nitroreductase is important not only for the study of cellular hypoxia, but also for the diagnosis and treatment of tumors and related diseases. In this review, we summarized the latest advances in small-molecule fluorescent probes for nitroreductase detection based on different fluorescence mechanisms, with a focus on research conducted between May 2018 and December 2020. The development trends and application prospect in this rapidly developing field were also highlighted.

Keywords: Detection; Fluorescent probe; Hypoxia; Imaging; Nitroreductase.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Cell Hypoxia
Fluorescent Dyes*
Humans
Hypoxia
Microscopy, Fluorescence
Nitroreductases* / metabolism

Substances

Fluorescent Dyes
Nitroreductases