An ICT-based fluorescent probe with bridging Si–O–Si bonds for visualizing hydrogen sulfide in lipid droplets and its application

Abstract

Hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) is considered as an important endogenous gaseous signaling molecule in biological systems. It plays a significant role in various intracellular activities. Therefore, it remains an urgent task to develop a new simple and efficient pathway for effective detection of H₂S in biological systems. Here, a novel fluorescent probe (named H-LDS) was designed and constructed. H-LDS based on naphthalimide derivatives and small molecule organosilicone localizes lipid droplets. H-LDS also shows excellent selectivity and high sensitivity for H₂S both in vivo and in vitro. The reaction mechanism of H-LDS is based on the intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) mechanism. H-LDS has been successfully applied to localize lipid droplets and detect exogenous H₂S in HeLa cells. Our work clarifies the potential applications of small molecule organosilicone fluorescent probes in biological systems.