A two-photon fluorescent turn-on probe for imaging of SO2 derivatives in living cells and tissues

SO2 and its derivatives (bisulfite/sulfite) play crucial roles in several physiological processes. Therefore, development of reliable analytical methods for monitoring SO2 and its derivatives in biological systems is very significant. In this paper, a FRET-based two-photon fluorescent turn-on probe, A-HCy, was proposed for specific detection of SO2 derivatives through the bisulfite/sulfite-promoted Michael addition reaction. In this FRET system, an acedan (2-acetyl-6-dialkylaminonaphthalene) moiety was selected as a two-photon donor and a hemicyanine derivative served as both the quencher and the recognition unit for bisulfite/sulfite. A-HCy exhibited excellent selectivity and rapid response to HSO3(-) with a detection limit of 0.24 μM. More importantly, probe A-HCy was first successfully applied in two-photon fluorescence imaging of biological SO2 derivatives in living cells and tissues, suggesting its great potential for practical application in biological systems.