A novel fast-response and highly selective AIEgen fluorescent probe for visualizing peroxynitrite in living cells, <i>C. elegans</i> and inflammatory mice

Abstract

Most of the ONOO^- fluorescent probes have restricted applications because of their aggregation-caused quenching (ACQ) effect, long response time and low fluorescence enhancement. Herein, we developed a novel AIEgen fluorescent probe (PE-XY) based on a benzothiazole and quinolin scaffold with high sensitivity and selectivity for imaging of ONOO^-. The results indicated that probe PE-XY exhibited fast response towards ONOO^- with 2000-fold enhancement of fluorescence intensity ratio <i>in vitro</i>. Moreover, PE-XY exhibited a relatively high sensitivity (limit of detection: 8.58 nM), rapid response (<50 s), high fluorescence quantum yield (<i>δ</i> = 0.81) and excellent selectivity over other analytes towards ONOO^-<i>in vitro</i>. Furthermore, PE-XY was successfully applied to detect endogenous ONOO^- levels in living HeLa cells, <i>C. elegans</i> and inflammatory mice with low cytotoxicity. Overall, this work provided a novel fast-response and highly selective AIEgen fluorescent probe for real-time monitoring ONOO^- fluctuations in living systems.