A novel cysteine fluorescent probe based on benzothiazole and quinoline with a large stokes shift and application in living cell and mice

Abstract

A novel fluorescent probe based on hydroxyquinoline conjugated with benzothiazolyl unit dye Doc-Ac was prepared. The results of fluorescent and absorption spectroscopic responses towards amino acids showed that the probe had a capability of rapidly and selectively detecting cysteine over other amino acids with a large stokes shift in aqueous solution. The sensing mechanism was proved by the proton NMR and high resolution mass spectrometry analysis. The fluorescence images indicated that this probe could discriminate the exogenous/endogenous cysteine in living cells and mice.