Drug-induced acute
kidney injury (AKI), caused by renal drug metabolism,
has been considered to be a major barrier in drug development and
clinical treatment. Among various drugs, anticancer drugs, cisplatin,
and aminoglycoside antibiotic gentamicin, are known to be able to
induce excessive or unfolded accumulation of proteins in the endoplasmic
reticulum (ER) of cells, leading to ER stress. Meanwhile, reactive
oxygen species (ROS) are formed, and superoxide anion (O2
•–), the first produced ROS, is a key species
to induce the AKI. Due to the lack of appropriate tools, the early
diagnosis of AKI induced by cisplatin, gentamicin, or other drugs
is still a crucial challenge. Herein, we report a lanthanide complex-based
ER-targetable luminescence probe for O2
•–, ER-(4'-trifluoromethanesulfonyloxy-2,2':6',2''-terpyridine-6,6''-diyl)bis(methylenenitrilo)tetrakis
(aceticacid) (NFTTA)-Eu3+/Tb3+, for the sensitive
monitoring of drug-induced AKI via mapping the generation of O2
•– in live cells and laboratory animals.
Using this probe coupled with the ratiometric time-gated luminescence
(RTGL) imaging technique, the changes of O2
•– level in the ER of live cells induced by different stimuli were
precisely monitored. More importantly, the substantial increases in
O2
•– levels were observed in the
cisplatin- and gentamicin-induced kidney injury of mice. In addition,
the protective effects of l-carnitine (LC) and epigallocatechin-3-gallate
(EGCG) against cisplatin- and gentamicin-induced nephrotoxicity were
visualized and elucidated for the first time. The results demonstrated
the potential of ER-NFTTA-Eu3+/Tb3+ for examining
and monitoring O2
•– in drug-induced
AKI and for providing a diagnosis and treatment of nephrotoxicity
diseases.