A Bioluminescent Probe for Detecting Norepinephrine <i>in Vivo</i>

Abstract

As a neurotransmitter, norepinephrine (NE) is critical for psychiatric conditions, neurodegenerative diseases, and pheochromocytoma. A real-time and noninvasive method for the detection of NE as a tracer to investigate the NE-relevant disease treatment process is urgently desirable. Herein, we successfully developed a turn-on NE bioluminescent probe (NBP), which was grounded on <i>p</i>-toluenethiol deprotectrf by nucleophilic substitution. Compared with other analytes, the NBP exhibited high sensitivity and selectivity <i>in vitro</i>. More importantly, the NBP provides a promising strategy for <i>in vivo</i> imaging of NE in living animals with noninvasive visualization and real-time features.