Target-Binding Accelerated Response for Sensitive Detection ofBasal H2O2in Tumor Cells and Tissues via a Dual-FunctionalFluorescence Probe

Aberrant production of H2O2is involved in cancer.The levels of H2O2are significantly higher in tumor cells than innormal cells. It is important to developfluorescent probes to imagebasal H2O2selectively in tumor cells. So far, a cancer cell-targetingprobe to image basal H2O2has not been reported. Thus, wedeveloped afluorescent probe,BBHP, which contains benzil as aH2O2-recognition site and biotin as a target binding motif for theselective and sufficient detection of H2O2in tumor cells.BBHPenables a selectivefluorescence turn-on response to H2O2. Thebinding of the probe with biotin receptors can greatly accelerate thefluorescence response to H2O2. As a result,BBHPcan sufficientlyimage basal H2O2in biotin receptor-positive cancer cells and tumortissues. Finally,BBHPwas successfully applied to discriminate between cancerous and normal tissue

Automated summary

Abnormal production of H2O2 is associated with cancer. It is crucial to develop fluorescent probes that can selectively image basal H2O2 in tumor cells. We have successfully developed a fluorescent probe, BBHP, which contains benzil as a recognition site for H2O2 and biotin as a target binding motif. BBHP enables a selective fluorescence turn-on response to H2O2 and can sufficiently image basal H2O2 in biotin receptor-positive cancer cells and tumor tissues.