Abstract
In this study, a biothiol-sensitive near-infrared (NIR) fluorescent sensor, BDP-CYS, based on a coumarin-hemicyanine skeleton, was designed and developed based on thiol-halogen S(N)Ar nucleophilic substitution. BDP-CYS was successfully implemented to ratiometrically monitor endogenous and exogenous Cys, Hcy, and GSH in living cells as well as to distinguish between normal and cancer cells. Furthermore, the probe was utilized to detect changes of biothiols in drug-induced hepatotoxicity and evaluate the treatment effectiveness of diabetes-associated liver injury in vivo. The advantages of BDP-CYS's Cys, Hcy, and GSH include practical sensitivity, high selectivity, rapidity of reaction, and stability across a range of pH and temperature conditions, thus introducing a new tool to better understand the roles of biothiols in oxidative stress.