Probing Deep Hydrogen Polysulfides Fluctuations In Vivo by Engineering Activatable Fluorescence Reporters with Second Near-Infrared Window Emission
Lixin Sun, Zhecha Zheng, Ziwen Zhang, Kehuan Wu, Hongyu Wu, Huili Liu, Mo Wang, Chunchang Zhao, Xianfeng Gu
Abstract
Deep and comprehensive understanding of the intricate biochemical processes mediated by H 2 S n ( n ≥ 1), but not H 2 S, is of paramount importance. A few fluorescent probes have been developed with the intention of addressing this issue. However, there is currently no evidence of any activatable NIR-II fluorescent probes for H 2 S n -specific imaging over H 2 S. In this study, we developed the inaugural H 2 S n -activated NIR-II probe for specific and deep imaging of H 2 S n through a series of molecular engineering strategies. Strong electron-absorbing moieties enabled the redshift of the emission of the designed reporter, while leaving groups with different dissociation capacities were responsible for modulating the selective and sensitive responsiveness to H 2 S n over H 2 S. By using this activatable specific probe for deep tissue mapping of endogenous H 2 S n fluctuations, accurate identification of acute inflammation in animal models was achieved. It is anticipated that the advancement of this activatable NIR-II probe will facilitate a more profound comprehension of the physiological implications of H 2 S n .