A dicyanocoumarin-fused quinolinium based probe for NAD(P)H and its use for detecting glycolysis and hypoxia in living cells and tumor spheroids

We present here a dicyanocoumarin-fused quinolinium based fluorescent probe to visualize NAD(P)H in living cells and tumor spheroids. The probe displays an NAD(P)H-selective strong ICT emission in a range of 600 similar to 750 nm. In addition, the probe can provide strong fluorescence in response to a glycolysis-induced NADH promotion in living cells. Moreover, the probe was utilized to indicate cisplatin-induced glycolysis inhibition in breast cancer cells. Furthermore, the probe can detect hypoxic cancer cells and it was successfully applied to detect hypoxia in the inner region of breast tumor tissue mimicking 3D spheroids.