Sensitive fluorescent probe for monitoring and bioimaging biothiols in living systems

Abstract

Biothiols (Cys/Hcy/GSH) have emerged as prime biomarker of cancer benefiting in the recent research playing a source of detection via fluorescence imaging. Pre-eminent present-day tools for biothiol detection are fluorescent probes that overcome the limitations of conventional detection methods by dispensing high selectivity, admiring sensitivity, low background-to-noise ratio, low anti-interference, and quick low-cost detection. Here, we report a freshly synthesized red-emitting BD-MSN fluorescent scaffold for the efficient in vivo detection of endogenous biothiols (Cys/Hcy/GSH) in living HeLa cancer cells and zebrafish larvae possessing the aforementioned features along with high water solubility, excellent biocompatibility, and low cytotoxicity. The reported probe has been amalgamated by the courtesy of nucleophilic substitution reactions that ensure biothiols-influenced hypersensitive detachment of functional group (BD) from the fluorophore (MSN-OH) offering strong red fluorescence emission at 635 nm. Moreover, successful in vitro and in vivo trials prove that BD-MSN can potentially be utilized for cancer detection in living organisms.