A ratiometric fluorescent probe for detection of exogenous mitochondrial SO2 based on a FRET mechanism

Abstract

A novel imidazo[1,5-a]pyridine-hemicyanine based ratiometric fluorescent probe for detection of mitochondrial SO2 was designed and synthesized. The probe is based on a fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) mechanism. It exhibits high selectivity and sensitivity towards SO32- with a fast response time (3 min) and detection limit of 0.13 μM. Further, it showed low cytotoxicity and was successfully applied to image exogenous mitochondrial SO2 in cells.