A near-infrared fluorescence probe for ultrafast and selective detection of peroxynitrite with large Stokes shift in inflamed mouse models

Abstract Peroxynitrite (ONOO − ) is a kind of reactive oxygen species (ROS) which is associated with pathogenesis of many diseases. A new near-infrared fluorescence probe ( DCM-OH ) which based on dicyanomethylene-4 H -pyrans to detect endogenous ONOO − was designed and synthesized. The two-photon absorption cross sections and large Stokes shift make the probe deeper issue penetration and lower self-absorption. The obtained results demonstrated that probe DCM-OH could sensitively detect ONOO − with a low detection limit (53 nM). What's more, probe DCM-OH exhibited an ultrafast response rate (within 5 s) toward ONOO − , which would be in favor of tracking the highly reactive and short-lived ONOO − in the living systems. Moreover, DCM-OH was successfully employed for imaging endogenous ONOO − in HepG2/RAW 264.7 cells and further applied to visualize oxidative stress in mouse model of inflammation.