A selective fluorescent turn-on probe for imaging and sensing of hydrogen peroxide in living cells

Fluorescent turn-on probes have been extensively used in disease diagnosis and research on pathological disease mechanisms because of their low background interference. Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) plays a vital role in regulating various cellular functions. In the current study, a fluorescent probe, HCyB, based on hemicyanine and arylboronate structures, was designed to detect H2O2. HCyB reacted with H2O2 and exhibited a good linear relationship for H2O2 concentrations ranging from 15 to 50 mu M and good selectivity over other species. The fluorescent detection limit was 76 nM. Moreover, HCyB exhibited less toxicity and mitochondrial-targeting abilities. HCyB was successfully used to monitor exogenous or endogenous H2O2 in mouse macrophage RAW 264.7, human skin fibroblast WS1, breast cancer cell MDA-MB-231, and human leukemia monocytic THP1 cells.

Automated summary

A fluorescent probe, HCyB, based on hemicyanine and arylboronate structures, was designed and successfully used to detect hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) with good linear relationship and selectivity. HCyB exhibited low toxicity, mitochondrial-targeting abilities, and could be used for monitoring H2O2 in different cell lines.