Dual modulation sites for a reversible fluorescent probe for GSH over Cys/Hcy

Abstract

An abnormal concentration of glutathione (GSH) is a health-associated risk factor and it is an important signal for diseases such as Parkinson's disease, liver injury and cancer. Therefore, understanding the real-time level of GSH is essential for the diagnosis, treatment, and pathological research of related diseases. At present, a few reversible GSH fluorescent probes have been developed, but they mostly exhibit similar chemical reactivities towards Cys and GSH. In this work, based on sulfhydryl and carboxyl groups in GSH, a dual-reversible-site probe was constructed with HBT (2-(2′-hydroxyphenyl)benzothiazole) and coumarin linked by α,β-unsaturated ketone units, achieving higher selectivity for GSH over Cys and Hcy. This probe was successfully employed to image the intracellular GSH levels, good for an in-depth understanding of GSH-related events.