A multi-emissive fluorescent probe for the discrimination of glutathione and cysteine.
Glutathione (GSH) and cysteine (Cys) play different roles in biological systems, thus the discrimination between them is of great importance. Herein we report a multi-emissive fluorescent probe for the selective detection of GSH and Cys. The probe was composed of covalently linked BODIPY and coumarin fluorophores. The BODIPY fluorophore was designed to react with GSH and Cys and generate different products with distinct photophysical properties, and the coumarin fluorophore acted as an internal standard. The probe exhibited green emission in aqueous solution. Upon addition of Cys, it yielded nitrogen-substituted BODIPY with weak fluorescence and free coumarin with blue emission. In the presence of glutathione, it generated mono- and di-sulfur substituted BODIPY and coumarin, resulting in various emission colors at different concentrations of GSH. Interestingly, the solution exhibited white fluorescence at GSH concentration of 0.4mM. The probe was capable of detecting and imaging GSH and Cys in living HeLa cells, indicating its significant potential in biological applications.
School of Chemistry and biological Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, PR China.
Xue-Liang
XL
Liu
Key Laboratory of Radiopharmaceuticals, Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, PR China; Key Laboratory of Photochemical Conversion and Optoelectronic Materials, Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, PR China. Electronic address: niuly@bnu.edu.cn.
Li-Ya
LY
Niu
Key Laboratory of Photochemical Conversion and Optoelectronic Materials, Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, PR China.
Yu-Zhe
YZ
Chen
School of Chemistry and biological Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, PR China. Electronic address: yxyang@ustb.edu.cn.
Yunxu
Y
Yang
Key Laboratory of Radiopharmaceuticals, Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, PR China. Electronic address: qzyang@bnu.edu.cn.
Qing-Zheng
QZ
Yang
D015374:Biosensing Techniques; D001896:Boron Compounds / Q000737:chemistry; D003374:Coumarins / Q000737:chemistry; D003545:Cysteine / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes / Q000737:chemistry*; D005978:Glutathione / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans
C095489:4,4-difluoro-4-bora-3a,4a-diaza-s-indacene; D001896:Boron Compounds; D003374:Coumarins; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; C030123:coumarin; D005978:Glutathione; D003545:Cysteine
Cysteine; Fluorescent probe; Glutathione; Imaging