A therapeutic probe for detecting and inhibiting ONOO− in senescent cells

Abstract

Aging is an inevitable biological process, characterized by a general decline in the quality of all physiological functions and reactions involving all organs and tissues of the body. Oxidative stress is considered to be the main cause of aging, which may be caused by active nitrogen substances. ONOO⁻ is one of the important active nitrogen substances. Therefore, detecting the changes of ONOO⁻ in senescent cells is of great significance for the study of senescence. However, the study of ONOO⁻ in senescent cells is not deep enough. Here, we designed and synthesized a fluorescent probe FLASN based on flavonol, which integrates ONOO⁻ detection and aging treatment. Our probe FLASN was prepared by a simple synthesis process and was shown to have excellent spectral characteristics. Meanwhile, the results of bioimaging showed that the probe FLASN could detect endogenous/exogenous ONOO⁻ in cells and in vivo, and could reduce the production of ONOO⁻ in cells and in vivo stimulated by metformin. It is worth noting that for the first time, the change of ONOO⁻ in senescent cells and in vivo was detected, and the therapeutic effect of flavonol on senescent cells and in vivo was confirmed, by using the probe FLASN.