A multi-functional fluorescent probe for visualization of H2S and viscosity/polarity and its application in cancer imaging

As an important endogenous gasotransmitter, hydrogen sulfide (H2S) plays a critical role in various physiological functions and has been regarded as a biomarker of cancer due to its overexpression in cancer cells. In addition, the early stages of cancer are often accompanied by abnormalities in the intracellular microenvironments, and distinguishing between cancer cell/tissues and normal cell/tissues is of great significance to the accuracy of cancer diagnosis. However, deep insights into the simultaneous detection of H2S and viscosity/polarity variations in cancer cells/tissues are rarely reported. In this work, we designed and synthesized a mitochondria-targeting fluorescent probe PDQHS, which exhibits high selectivity for H2S with an emission peak around 632 nm and excellent response (17-fold) to viscosity/polarity beyond 706 nm. Meanwhile, PDQHS shows good biocompatibility and can specifically accumulate into mitochondria. Using PDQHS, the visual distinguishing of cancer cells from normal cells was achieved via dual-channel detection of H2S and viscosity/polarity. More importantly, PDQHS has been successfully applied to visualize endogenous and exogenous H2S in living cells and tumor tissue. Obviously, compared to the detection of a single biomarker, monitoring multiple biomarkers simultaneously through dual-channel response is conducive to amplifying the detection signal, providing a more sensitive and reliable imaging tool in the tumor region, which is beneficial for cancer prediction.