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A two-photon off-on fluorescence probe for imaging thiols in live cells and tissues

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Abstract

A two-photon (TP) fluorescence imaging probe (Z1) was designed to detect biothiols through a photoinduced electron transfer pathway utilizing N-butyl-naphthalimide as the fluorophore and 2,4-dinitrobenzene-sulfonyl as the responsive group, which were linked together by piperazine. The synthesized Z1 displayed high selectivity to biothiols, significant fluorescence off–on properties, and a marked two-photon absorption cross section (δ = 110 GM). Moreover, Z1 showed good biocompatibility and insensitivity toward changes in the biologically relevant pH range (7.2–8.4), which enabled the utilization of Z1 to monitor biothiol levels not only in live cells but also in tissues at depths of 50–250 μm.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Nonferrous Metal Chemistry and Resources Utilization of Gansu Province, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, China

    Xinyue Zhu, Yan Li, Wenyan Zan, Jianjian Zhang, Xiaoyan Liu, Fengchao Qi, Xiaojun Yao & Haixia Zhang

  2. Institute of Physiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, China

    Zhenjie Chen & Xiaoyu Zhang

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  1. Xinyue Zhu
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  2. Yan Li
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Correspondence to Haixia Zhang.

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Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Characteristic (1H NMR, 13C NMR, and HRMS spectra), UV-Vis absorption and fluorescence spectra and two-photon action cross section measurement. See DOI: 10.1039/c5pp00468c

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Zhu, X., Li, Y., Zan, W. et al. A two-photon off-on fluorescence probe for imaging thiols in live cells and tissues. Photochem Photobiol Sci 15, 412–419 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1039/c5pp00468c

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