A near-infrared fluorescent probe for the detection of hydrogen polysulfides biosynthetic pathways in living cells and in vivo

Hydrogen polysulfides (H2Sn, n > 1), derived from hydrogen sulfide (H2S), have been considered to be involved in cytoprotective processes and redox signaling. The emerging evidences imply that the actual signaling molecule is H2Sn rather than H2S. In this work, we present a near-infrared fluorescent probe BD-ss for the selective detection of H2Sn biosynthetic pathways in living cells and in vivo. The probe is constructed by equipping a bis-electrophilic H2Sn capture group p-nitrofluorobenzoate to a near-infrared fluorophore azo-BODIPY. BD-ss can provide a remarkable turn-on fluorescence response for assessing endogenous H2Sn formation ways in serum, in living cells and in vivo.