Glutathione-driven Cu(i)–O2 chemistry: a new light-up fluorescent assay for intracellular glutathione

Abstract

Besides its widely known role as an endogenous antioxidant in scavenging free radicals, glutathione (GSH) can also play the role of prooxidant and promote CuO-induced formation of hydroxyl radicals to light up a fluorescent signal through Cu(I)–O₂ chemistry without requiring additional H₂O₂. This approach is independent of the mechanisms of enzyme mimics, such as the well-known oxidase and peroxidase mimetics, providing a new method to simply and effectively analyze intracellular GSH.