A fluorogenic probe for detecting CO with the potential integration of diagnosis and therapy (IDT) for cancer

Abstract Carbon monoxide (CO) is one of the most important intracellular signal molecules in mammalian cells and is closely related to a series of physiological and pathological behavior. By far, substantial CO associated fluorescent probes have been developed for disease diagnostic purposes only, not for therapeutic efficacy. However, in cases where diagnosis and treatment are separated, there is a high probability that the optimal treatment period for the disease will be delayed. Therefore, it is urgent to exploit an integration of diagnoses and therapy (IDT) fluorescent probe to monitor the change of CO in living system. In this paper, the first IDT fluorescent probe NAP-CO for CO with excellent sensitivity and selectivity was designed and synthesized based on the above issues. The biological experiments showed that the probe has been successfully applied to carbon monoxide imaging in the living systems. More importantly, the probe NAP-CO could not only diagnose cancer by recognizing CO, but also had significant therapeutic effects on tumors by producing amonafide (ANF) with powerful anti-cancer function. All of the above results deliver a novel notion for the superior development of IDT fluorescent probes for CO.