A disaggregation-induced emission strategy to obtain dual-emission fluorescence-enhanced probe for visualization of SO2 fluctuation in living cells, tumor tissue and zebrafish

The emergence of disaggregation-induced emission (DIE) probes has provided new insights into the traditional aggregation-caused quenching (ACQ) dyes. However, establishing and achieving promising DIE platforms for biomedical imaging is still a major challenge. In this study, for the first time, we designed a novel DIE platform based on highly planar chromenoquinoline derivatives to obtain dual-emission enhanced SO2 probe. Highly planarized chromenoquinoline derivatives with strong pi-pi stacking interactions are extremely prone to aggre-gation, resulting in partial fluorescence quenching. Interestingly, the addition of SO2 to probe DEE-1 caused partial disaggregation of chromenoquinoline derivatives, which evoked the dual-emission enhancement derived from disaggregation-induced emission in the long-wavelength region (lambda em = 625 nm, 5-fold) and SO2 addition peak in the short-wavelength region (lambda em = 510 nm, 15-fold). Significantly, these unique probes DEE-1 and DEE -2 were successfully employed for dual-channel imaging of the SO2 fluctuation in living cells, tumor tissue and zebrafish, highlighting the great potential of disaggregation-induced emission strategy. Thus, this work not only provide a dual-emission fluorescence-enhanced tool to investigate and study the signal molecules (SO2), but also deliver clues for the development of more potential probes for other analytes based on the DIE mechanism.

Automated summary

A novel disaggregation-induced emission (DIE) platform based on highly planar chromenoquinoline derivatives was designed to obtain a dual-emission enhanced SO2 probe. This probe was successfully applied for dual-channel imaging of SO2 fluctuation in living cells, tumor tissue, and zebrafish, showcasing the potential of the disaggregation-induced emission strategy.