A New Endoplasmic Reticulum (ER)-Targeting Fluorescent Probe for the Imaging of Cysteine in Living Cells

Cysteine (Cys) is an important endogenous amino acid and plays critical physiological roles in living systems. Herein, an endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-targeting fluorescent probe (FER-Cys) was designed and prepared for imaging of Cys in living cells. The probeFER-Cysconsists of a fluorescein framework as the fluorescent platform, acrylate group as the response site for the selective recognition of Cys, and ER-specificp-toluenesulfonamide fragment. After the response of probeFER-Cysto Cys, a turn-on fluorescence signal at 546 nm could be detected obviously. The probeFER-Cysfurther shows desirable selectivity to Cys. Finally, the probeFER-Cyswas proven to selectively detect Cys in live cells and successfully image the changes of Cys level in the cell models of H2O2-induced redox imbalance.