A Red-Emitting Fluorescence Sensor for Detecting Boronic Acid-Containing Agents in Cells

The amount and localization of boron-10 atoms delivered into tumor cells determines the therapeutic effect of boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) and, consequently, efforts have been directed to develop fluorescence sensors to detect intracellular boronic acid compounds. Currently, these sensors are blue-emitting and hence are impracticable for co-staining with nucleus staining reagents, such as DAPI and Hoechst 33342. Here, we designed and synthesized a novel fluorescence boron sensor, BS-631, that emits fluorescence with a maximum emission wavelength of 631 nm after reaction with the clinically available boronic acid agent, 4-borono-l-phenylalanine (BPA). BS-631 quantitatively detected BPA with sufficiently high sensitivity (detection limit = 19.6 µM) for evaluating BNCT agents. Furthermore, BS-631 did not emit fluorescence after incubation with metal cations. Notably, red-emitting BS-631 could easily and clearly visualize the localization of BPA within cells with nuclei co-stained using Hoechst 33342. This study highlights the promising properties of BS-631 as a versatile boron sensor for evaluating and analyzing boronic acid agents in cancer therapy.