Near-infrared frequency upconversion probes for monitoring glutathione S-transferase to evaluate acute liver injury

Abstract Acute liver injury (ALI) is one of the main causes of malignant liver disease. We developed a rhodamine-based frequency upconversion luminescent probe (NRh-NNBA) to detect the biomarker glutathione S-transferase (GSTs) to monitor ALI. NRh-NNBA showed a rapid and specific response to GSTs in drug-induced and CCl4-induced ALI, respectively, by generating the enzymatic product NRh-glutathione, which emitted at 832 nm under excitation at 850 nm. NRh-NNBA successfully detected endogenous GSTs in human liver L02 cells with a high signal-to-noise ratio, and detected GSTs activity levels in liver slices and serum from ALI mice. These results suggest that NRh-NNBA might serve as an ideal sensor for monitoring GSTs during the diagnosis and treatment of ALI.