A dual-emission fluorescence-enhanced probe for hydrogen sulfide and its application in biological imaging

Abstract

Hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) is an emerging gasotransmitter in the regulation of numerous physiological and pathological processes. Herein, we reported a dual-emission fluorescence-enhanced probe DCH-S for the detection of biological H₂S. The probe is composed of a coumarin-SBD hybrid and a recognition group of 2,4-dinitrobenzenesulfonate (DNBS). In response to H₂S, DCH-S rapidly changed into DCH with elimination of the DNBS group and then exhibited a fluorescence enhancement at both 456 nm and 600 nm. The fluorescence intensities reached a plateau within 5 min and the limit of detection was calculated as 47 nM. DCH-S showed high selectivity and anti-interference ability to H₂S over other related analytes. DCH-S was also found to function efficiently under a wide pH range of 5–9 and display low toxicity to living MCF-7 cells. More importantly, DCH-S was successfully applied to detect exogenous/endogenous H₂S in living cells and zebrafish via dual-channel imaging.