A borate-based peroxynitrite fluorescent probe and its application in fluorescence imaging of living cells

As a bioactive species with high oxidation capacity, peroxynitrite (ONOO-) plays a crucial role in the regulation of diverse pathophysiological processes, and the overproduction of ONOO- is closely associated with various physiological diseases such as liver injury, pulmonary fibrosis and so on. Herein, two borate-based fluorescent probes 3a and 3b were synthesized for monitoring ONOO- by a simple substitution reaction. The experimental results showed that 3a and 3b had high selectivity and sensitivity for ONOO-. The detection limits of 3a and 3b were 79.46 nM and 32.12 nM, respectively. Moreover, the recognition was not disturbed by other active oxygen groups and common ions. More importantly, the probes 3a and 3b had low cytotoxicity and were successfully used to detect endogenous and exogenous ONOO-. They would provide an efficient detection method for further exploring the physiological and pathological role of ONOO- in complex biological systems and related diseases.

Automated summary

As a bioactive species with strong oxidation capacity, peroxynitrite (ONOO-) plays a crucial role in regulating various pathophysiological processes. The overproduction of ONOO- is closely associated with physiological diseases such as liver injury and pulmonary fibrosis. In this study, two borate-based fluorescent probes 3a and 3b were synthesized for the detection of ONOO-. The probes exhibited high selectivity and sensitivity with detection limits of 79.46 nM and 32.12 nM, respectively. Furthermore, the probes showed low cytotoxicity and successfully detected endogenous and exogenous ONOO-. These probes provide an efficient method for studying the physiological and pathological role of ONOO- in complex biological systems and related diseases.