A novel lysosome-located fluorescent probe for highly selective determination of hydrogen polysulfides based on a...

Hydrogen polysulfides (H₂S_n, n > 1) belongs to sulfane sulfur in the reactive sulfur species (RSS) family and plays a significant regulatory role in organisms. Highly selective and lysosome-located probes for detecting hydrogen polysulfides are rare. Thus, it is important to develop a technique to detect the changes of H₂S_n level in lysosomes. In this work, a lysosome-targeting fluorescent probe for H₂S_n was designed and developed based on a naphthalimide derivative. 4-Hydroxynaphthalimide was selected as the fluorescent group and 2-chloro-5-nitrobenzoate group was used as a specific recognition unit for H₂S_n. A morpholine unit was chosen as a lysosome-located group. In the absence of H₂S_n, the fluorescent probe exhibited almost no fluorescence. In the presence of H₂S_n, the fluorescent probe showed strong fluorescence owing to H₂S_n-mediated aromatic substitution-cyclization reactions. The fluorescence emission intensity at 548 nm of the probe showed a good linear relationship toward H₂S_n in the range of 2.0 × 10^-7 - 9.0 × 10^-5 mol·L^-1, and the detection limit was found to be 1.5 × 10^-7 mol·L^-1. The probe possessed a wide work range of pH, including the pH of physiological environment, and high selectivity for H₂S_n. There are almost no cytotoxicity and the ability of detecting endogenous and exogenous H₂S_n in lysosomes. These results indicate that the fluorescent probe can provide a good tool for intracellular and extracellular detection of H₂S_n.