Red-emitting Fluorescent Probe for Visualizing Endogenous Peroxynitrite in Live Cells and Inflamed Mouse Model

Abstract

Inflammation is a congenital immune protective response in living system which has tight association with various diseases. Peroxynitrite (ONOO‒) as a member of reactive oxygen species (ROS) family participates in the inflammation progress, therefore detecting ONOO‒ is very important for exploring the inflammatory-related diseases. In this work, we constructed a red-emitting fluorescent probe RFAc for monitoring ONOO‒. Utilizing the α-keto amide group as specific trigger, the probe RFAc realized selective determination of ONOO‒. Besides, it exhibited high sensitivity towards ONOO‒ with a low limit of detection (220 nM). Moreover, the detection mechanism was verified by Mass spectrometry and the intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) process was attested by density functional theory (DFT). It was important that RFAc could trace endogenous/exogenous ONOO‒ in living cells, as well detect the fluctuation of ONOO− levels in LPS-induced inflammation mouse model which could efficiently serve as a promising research tool for the inflammatory-related investigation.