A FRET-based ratiometric fluorescent probe for hydrogen polysulfide detection in living cells and zebrafish

Teng Liu; Qiyao Peng; Junyi Wang; Chao Yu; Xuekuan Huang; Quan Luo; Yajun Zeng; Yi Hou; Yuan Zhang; Aiming Luo; Zhaoxia Zou; Meizi Chen; Yongbo Peng

doi:10.1016/j.saa.2021.120524

A FRET-based ratiometric fluorescent probe for hydrogen polysulfide detection in living cells and zebrafish

Spectrochim Acta A Mol Biomol Spectrosc. 2022 Feb 15;267(Pt 2):120524. doi: 10.1016/j.saa.2021.120524. Epub 2021 Oct 23.

Authors

Teng Liu¹, Qiyao Peng², Junyi Wang³, Chao Yu³, Xuekuan Huang³, Quan Luo⁴, Yajun Zeng³, Yi Hou³, Yuan Zhang³, Aiming Luo⁵, Zhaoxia Zou⁵, Meizi Chen⁶, Yongbo Peng⁷

Affiliations

¹ Department of New Pediatrics, Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha 410008, PR China.
² Chongqing Key Laboratory for Pharmaceutical Metabolism Research, The Key Laboratory of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, College of Pharmacy, College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 400016, PR China; Department of New Pediatrics, Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha 410008, PR China.
³ Chongqing Key Laboratory for Pharmaceutical Metabolism Research, The Key Laboratory of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, College of Pharmacy, College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 400016, PR China.
⁴ Department of Rehabilitation, Hunan Provincial People's Hospital, the First Affiliated Hospital of Hunan Normal University, Changsha 410000, PR China.
⁵ Hunan Kaiyoukang Health Technology Co., Ltd, Changsha 410008, PR China.
⁶ Department of General Internal Medicine, the First People's Hospital of Chenzhou, Chenzhou 423000, PR China.
⁷ Chongqing Key Laboratory for Pharmaceutical Metabolism Research, The Key Laboratory of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, College of Pharmacy, College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 400016, PR China. Electronic address: pengyongbo2000@126.com.

PMID: 34739897
DOI: 10.1016/j.saa.2021.120524

Abstract

Hydrogen polysulfide (H₂S_n, n > 1) is an important active sulfur molecule (RSS) in organisms, which have been considered to be involved in redox signaling and cytoprotective processes. In this work, in order to quickly and accurately detect H₂S_n in biosystems, 2-fluoro-5-nitrobenzoic ester was used as the response moiety for H₂S_n, and the FRET strategy was adopted to effectively connect the donor (6-hydroxy-2-naphthoic acid) and acceptor (4-substituted-1,8-naphthalimide) to construct a new ratiometric H₂S_n fluorescent probe NPNA-H₂S_n. NPNA-H₂S_n exhibited a more than ∼ 8.0-fold ratio enhancement towards H₂S_n at I₄₅₀/I₅₂₆ and a very high sensitivity with a very low detection limit of 40.3 nM. Impressive, NPNA-H₂S_n was further used for fluorescence imaging of H₂S_n in living cells and zebrafish, which showed high-clear ratiometric images. Therefore, we have demonstrated that NPNA-H₂S_n could be applied for ratiometric images of endogenous H₂S_n in living biosystems and provide a powerful molecular tool for evaluating the physiological and pathological functions of H₂S_n.

Keywords: Fluorescent imaging; Hydrogen polysulfides; Ratiometric; Zebrafish.

MeSH terms

Animals
Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer
Fluorescent Dyes*
Hydrogen
Sulfides
Zebrafish*

Substances

Fluorescent Dyes
Sulfides
Hydrogen
polysulfide