Ratiometric detection and imaging of hydrogen sulfide in mitochondria based on a cyanine/naphthalimide hybrid fluorescent probe

Abstract

Hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) in mitochondria plays important roles in many mitochondria-related physiological and pathological processes. Herein, a cyanine/naphthalimide hybrid fluorescent probe, L1, was designed for the ratiometric detection and imaging of mitochondrial H₂S, in which cyanine and naphthalimide were used as the mitochondria-targeting group and H₂S response group, respectively. Besides its good mitochondria-targeting ability, L1 also showed high sensitivity and good selectivity for H₂S. Moreover, on the basis of the fluorescence ratio of naphthalimide to cyanine fluorophore, it was successfully applied to monitor the endogenous and exogenous mitochondrial H₂S in live cells. Additionally, the endogenous mitochondrial H₂S in different cell lines was measured by probe L1.