Design and Synthesis of Near-infrared Fluorescent Probes for Imaging of Biological Nitroxyl

Nitroxyl (HNO), the reduced and protonated form of nitric oxide (NO), has recently been identified as an interesting and important signaling molecule in biological systems. However, research on its biosynthesis and bioactivities are hampered by the lack of versatile HNO detection methods applicable to living cells. In this report, two new near-infrared (NIR) probes were designed and synthesized for HNO imaging in living cells. One of the probes was found to display high sensitivity towards HNO, with up to 67-fold of fluorescence increment after reaction with HNO. The detection limit was determined to be as low as 0.043 μM. The probe displayed high selectivity towards HNO over other biologically related species including metal ions, reactive oxygen species, reactive nitrogen species and reactive sulfur species. Furthermore, the probe was shown to be suitable for imaging of exogenous and endogenous HNO in living cells. Interestingly, the probe was found to be mainly localized in lysosomes. We envision that the new NIR probe described here will serve as a useful tool for further elucidation of the intricate roles of HNO in living cells.