A colorimetric, ratiometric and water-soluble fluorescent probe for simultaneously sensing glutathione and cysteine/homocysteine

Anal Chim Acta. 2015 Nov 5:900:103-10. doi: 10.1016/j.aca.2015.10.023. Epub 2015 Oct 24.

Abstract

A chlorinated coumarin-aldehyde was developed as a colorimetric and ratiometric fluorescent probe for distinguishing glutathione (GSH), cystenine (Cys) and homocysteine (Hcy). The GSH-induced substitution-cyclization and Cys/Hcy-induced substitution-rearrangement cascades lead to the corresponding thiol-coumarin-iminium cation and amino-coumarin-aldehyde with distinct photophysical properties. The probe can be used to simultaneously detect GSH and Cys/Hcy by visual determination based on distinct different colors - red and pale-yellow in PBS buffer solution by two reaction sites. From the linear relationship of fluorescence intensity and biothiols concentrations, it was determined that the limits of detection for GSH, Hcy and Cys are 0.08, 0.09 and 0.18 μM, respectively. Furthermore, the probe was successfully used in living cell imaging with low cell toxicity.

Keywords: Cell imaging; Coumarin; Fluorescent probe; Glutathione; Ratiometric.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Colorimetry / methods*
  • Cysteine / analysis*
  • Fluorescent Dyes / chemistry*
  • Glutathione / analysis*
  • Homocysteine / analysis*
  • Hydrogen-Ion Concentration
  • Spectrometry, Fluorescence
  • Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet

Substances

  • Fluorescent Dyes
  • Homocysteine
  • Glutathione
  • Cysteine