Multifunctional Fluorescent Probe for Simultaneously Detecting Microviscosity, Micropolarity, and Carboxylesterases and Its Application in Bioimaging

Based on OR logic gate, we proposed a smart nearinfrared (NIR) fluorescent probe, named VPCPP, for simultaneously monitoring local microviscosity, micropolarity, and carboxylesterases (CEs) in living cells through blue and red channels. This proposed probe was capable of distinguishing cancer cells from normal cells and had good potential for identifying living liver cell lines. Furthermore, the fluctuations of the three analytes of interest in different cell status was successfully explored. Particularly, facilitated with high-content analysis (HCA) and VPCPP, a simple and efficient high-throughput screening (HTS) platform was first constructed for screening antitumor drugs and studying their effect on the analytes. For the first time, we found that sorafenib-induced ferroptosis led to an increase in the microviscosity and up-regulation of CEs at the same time. Additionally, the procedure that aristolochic acid (AA) induced the overexpression of CEs was verified. Besides, VPCPP was utilized for imaging the variations of the two microenvironment parameters and CEs in the inflammation model. Finally, VPCPP was able to image the tumor ex vivo and in vivo through two channels and one channel separately, as well as to visualize the kidneys and liver ex vivo with dual emissions, which indicated that the probe had great potential for imaging applications such as medical diagnosis, preclinical research, and imaging-guided surgery.

Automated summary

A smart NIR fluorescent probe called VPCPP was proposed for monitoring microviscosity, micropolarity, and carboxylesterases in living cells. The probe was able to distinguish cancer cells and had the potential for various imaging applications. It was also utilized in high-throughput screening and imaging of inflammation models.