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Published on: May 19, 2023
A Mitochondria-Targeted Fluorescent Probe for Nanomolar Cysteine Detection via an ICT Mechanism in Living Cells and
Raguraman Lalitha1, Yun-Fen Hung2, Shu Pao Wu2
1Organic and Polymer Synthesis Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, National Institute of Technology , Tiruchirappalli620 015, India.
Abstract:
A mitochondria-targeting fluorescent molecule, (E)-2-(2-(7-(acryloyloxy)-2-oxo-2H-chromen-3-yl) vinyl)-3-ethyl-1,1-dimethyl-1H-benzo[e]indol-3-ium (BCA), was designed to detect cysteine (Cys). BCA undergoes a Michael addition with Cys, followed by cyclization and elimination, generating the intramolecular charge transfer (ICT)-active fluorophore and triggering a fluorescence turn-on response with emission maximum at 620 nm within 2 min. BCA exhibited good selectivity and a detection limit of 200 nM for Cys in the PBS buffer. Its biological applicability was demonstrated in HepG2 cells and zebrafish models.
