A tyrosinase-triggered oxidative reaction-based “Turn-on” fluorescent probe for imaging in living melanoma cells

Abstract

Melanoma, with poor prognosis and highly metastatic spread, is the most deadly skin cancer, but the monitoring and diagnosis of melanoma is still a challenging. The rate-limiting enzyme tyrosinase is crucial for controlling melanin production, and is a well-known biomarker closely associated with the level of malignancy. However, effective probes for detecting tyrosinase in living cells are currently lacking. This paper describes the design, synthesis and characterization of F2, a high sensitive type of “turn-on” fluorescent probe for imaging living melanoma cells. F2 could be activated by tyrosinase-catalyzed oxidation followed by hydrolysis of a urea linkage. The results demonstrate that F2 displays cyan fluorescence when activated by tyrosinase, and has sufficient sensitivity and selectivity to detect tyrosinase in aqueous solution and in living cells. F2 has potential for the noninvasive real-time diagnosis and tracking of melanoma.