A novel mitochondria-targeted ratiometric fluorescent probe for endogenous sulfur dioxide derivatives as a cancer-detecting tool

Article abstract of DOI:10.1039/d0tb00149j

A new mitochondria-targeted fluorescent probe RBC, constructed using a coumarin moiety which was selected as the donor and a benzothiazole derivative as the acceptor, for SO2 derivatives (HSO3-/SO32-) was presented. The probe designed on a new FRET platform showed high selectivity and a low detection limit. Importantly, the probe could respond to HSO3-/SO32- within 35 s. Furthermore, the probe could target mitochondria and was successfully used for fluorescence imaging of endogenous bisulfite in HepG2 with low cytotoxicity, which significantly assisted in cancer diagnosis. This journal is