A dual-channel fluorescent probe for simultaneous imaging of H2S and viscosity in non-alcoholic fatty liver and tumor tissue models

Abstract

Cancer diagnosis accurately greatly depends on the ability to differentiate between cancerous and normal cells and tissues during the early stages of the disease, which are frequently accompanied by abnormalities in the intracellular hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and microenvironment (viscosity). Herein, we designed a multi-responsive probe (TL) for the simultaneous detection of H2S and viscosity. Firstly, TL reacted with D (2,4-dinitrophenyl) and observed the intramolecular charge transfer sensing mechanism as well as TL-D, which was developed together with fluorescence quenching at 558？nm. Since D is an H2S-recognizing unit, the probe-attached D (TL-D) could react with H2S spontaneously, reproducing TL in reversible processes besides achieving quantitative emission from 558 to 496？nm. Following that, the suggested mechanism was confirmed by examining H2S and viscosity using the newly synthesized probe TL-D. Remarkably, probe TL-D can be employed for simultaneous imaging of H2S, and viscosity in dual channels has also been accomplished in non-alcoholic fatty liver (NAFL) disease liver tissues in addition to cancer cells and NAFL mouse models. As anticipated, for visual clinical diagnosis, tracking many biomarkers simultaneously across multiple channels appeared to be more reliable than recognizing a single biomarker.