A Pyrene-Based Fluorescent Probe for Specific Detection of Cysteine and its Application in Living Cell

Cysteine (Cys) is an essential amino acid in organism, which is transformed from methionine in vivo and participates in protein synthesis and cell redox process. Therefore, the detection of Cys is of great significance. In this work, a novel fluorescent probe, (E)-3-(2-chloroquinolin-3-yl)-1-(pyren-3-yl) prop-2-en-1-one (PAQ) was designed and synthesized to specifically detect Cys. The response mechanism of the reaction between PAQ and Cys was due to the addition reaction of Cys to α,β-unsaturated ketone of PAQ. Interestingly, the addition of Cys induced significant fluorescence intensity enhancement at 462 nm. PAQ exhibited favorable sensing properties towards Cys such as the low limit of detection (0.27 μM) and fast response speed (2 min). In addition, PAQ displayed high selectivity and anti-interference ability toward Cys among various analytes. Notably, PAQ has been successfully used to image exogenous and endogenous Cys in HeLa cells.