A novel fluorescent probe for ultra-fast detection of CORM-3 and spatiotemporal multi-organelle targeting

Endogenous CO is produced by heme in cells and is involved in various physiological processes. Carbon monoxide releasing molecules (CORMs) could deliver CO-controlled to biological systems. At present, most fluorescent probes used to detect CO or CORM have some problems, such as long response time and toxicity to biological systems. Therefore, this work reports a novel fluorescent probe (PNQ) that can detect CORM-3 realtime based on the coordination of the intramolecular electron-poor double bond and the reduction of nitro group by green and red fluorescence channels. A detail recognition mechanism is proposed. The probe enables ultra-fast detection of CORM-3 without the assistance of other substances and monitors CORM-3 concentrations at the cellular level. Significantly, PNQ is the first case that can detect the concentration of CORM-3 in endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondria based on different fluorescence emission and has the characteristics of spatial and temporal distribution. We believe that this probe has great potential for studying synergistic or antagonistic effects between organelles on CO released by CORM-3 and regulation.