A bifunctional mitochondrial targeting AIE-active fluorescent probe with high sensitivity to hydrogen peroxide and viscosity for fatty liver diagnosis

Abstract

AIE fluorophores have been developed as bioimaging probes due to their strong brightness at high concentration and increase of the photostability to promote highly recognizable cellular signaling. However, conventional AIE fluorescent probes for bioimaging just solely lighten the cells or tissues, suffering from the limitation of satisfying the requirement of disease diagnosis. Herein, we report an AIE-active bioprobe (TPP-Tba) for linear fluorescence response and qualitative detection of hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) and viscosity with a wide detection range and a low detection limit. TPP-Tba displays an impressive ability of distinguishing normal cells and pathological cells. Furthermore, fatty liver tissue can also be efficiently distinguished from normal liver tissue, attributed to the great H₂O₂ and viscosity dual-response as well as the specific targeting to mitochondria by TPP-Tba. Given the high sensitivity for H₂O₂ and viscosity, great biocompatibility, high specificity to mitochondria, and impressive ability of distinguishing normal tissue and pathological tissue, we envisage that this novel TPP-Tba probe would open a new window for designing novel bioprobes for disease diagnosis.