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A hemicyanidin-based NIR fluorescent probe for detection of H2S and imaging study in cells and mice

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Abstract

The selective detection of hydrogen sulfide in physiological and pathological processes has gained substantial attention in recent years. However, the real-time detection of hydrogen sulfide remains an elusive goal. In this work, a new type of hemicyanidin-based fluorescent “turn-on” probe NTR-HS (Ex = 680 nm, Em = 760 nm) was developed to detected H2S in a very short time (3 min). The fluorescence quantum yield is 0.15 and accompanied with a noticeable color change from violet to blue that can be used to detect H2S in the range 1.04 × 10−7–4 × 10−5 M with a limit of detection of 1.04 x 10-7 M. The NTR-HS probe was also used for imaging of endogenous hydrogen sulfide and mitochondrial localization in HCT116 and HeLa cells. The detection mechanism was studied through fluorescence, UV–Vis, NMR, and mass analysis. Notably, the probe was successfully used to imaging H2S in mice and locating hydrogen sulfide in the large intestine of mice.

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Data availability

All requests with regard to data and materials can be addressed to Xuejun Liu, liuxuejun@henu.edu.cn; Kuoxi Xu, xukx@henu.edu.cn.

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Funding

This work was supported by the Teacher Education Curriculum Reform Research Project of Henan Province (2020-JSJYZD-019).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Henan Engineering Research Center of Industrial Recirculating Water Treatment, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Henan University, Kaifeng, Henan, 475004, People’s Republic of China

    Bai Li, Minghui Wang, Xin Gu, Jiajia Chen, Xindi Yang & Kuoxi Xu

  2. Henan Province Engineering Research Center of Catalytic Reaction, Henan University, Kaifeng, 475004, Henan, China

    Xuejin Liu

Authors
  1. Bai Li
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  2. Minghui Wang
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  3. Xin Gu
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  4. Jiajia Chen
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  5. Xindi Yang
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  6. Xuejin Liu
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  7. Kuoxi Xu
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Contributions

Bai Li: resources, writing, supervision, data curation. Minghui Wang: conceptualization, methodology, project administration, software. Xin Gu: data curation, visualization. Jiajia Chen: conceptualization, visualization. Xiaoyan Yang: review and editing. Xindi Yang: methodology, software. Xuejin Liu: review and editing, supervision, funding acquisition. Kuoxi Xu: Resources, writing—review and editing, supervision, data curation.

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Correspondence to Xuejin Liu or Kuoxi Xu.

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Li, B., Wang, M., Gu, X. et al. A hemicyanidin-based NIR fluorescent probe for detection of H2S and imaging study in cells and mice. Microchim Acta 189, 291 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-022-05374-7

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