In Vivo Imaging and Tracking Carbon Monoxide-Releasing Molecule-3 with an NIR Fluorescent Probe

Abstract

As a water-soluble carbon monoxide-releasing molecule, CORM-3 is widely used as a CO donor to study CO in the life system. CORM-3 can also replace gaseous CO as a therapeutic drug molecule to reveal the physiological and pathological effects of CO in life. Therefore, it is of great importance to visualize and track CORM-3 in the life system. We develop herein a near-infrared (NIR) fluorescent probe CORM3-NIR that can detect CORM-3 both in living cells and in vivo effectively. The probe is based on the unique fluorescent QCy7 and uses a 4-nitrobenzyl group to trap CORM-3, and importantly, it shows good water solubility and responds rapidly, selectively, and sensitively to CORM-3, releasing QCy-7 and producing distinct colorimetric and significant NIR fluorescence change signals at 743 nm. The Stokes shift is up to 81 nm. The probe is also able to detect CORM-3 ratiometrically with fluorescence at 743 and 600 nm. Besides, with low cytotoxicity, the probe also shows good NIR fluorescence bioimaging ability for CORM-3 in live cells and mice, which indicates that CORM3-NIR is an effective probe for tracking and studying CORM-3 in the life system.

Activity‐Based Fluorescent Probes for Sensing and Imaging of Reactive Carbonyl Species (RCSs)

“…Similarly, Zhou et al developed a cyanine-based water-soluble probe CORM3-NIR, which was highly selective to CORM-3, a primary source of CO (Figure 9F). [113] The probe released QCy-7, which was highly fluorescent, and it can monitor CO at cytosol and Kunming mouse model. Jiang et al developed a coumarin-benzopyran conjugated with a twophoton fluorescent probe CPÀ CO (Figure 10).…”

A NIR-emissive probe with a remarkable Stokes shift for CO-releasing molecule-3 detection in cells andin vivo

“…[18][19][20][21][22][23][24] At present, some probes for the selective detection of CORM-3 based on small molecule organic fluorophores have been established. [25][26][27][28][29] Emission from most CORM-3 fluorescent probes has been observed to occur in the ultraviolet or visible light range. Due to auto-fluorescence and the light absorption of biomolecules, these are not suitable for CORM-3 imaging in vivo.…”

“…So far, only one NIR fluorescent probe has been designed for CORM-3 detection. 29 However, its use in vivo is hindered to some extent due to the small Stokes shift, which results in "self-absorption" effects (Table S1 †). Therefore, it would be meaningful to design a NIR fluorescent probe with a large Stokes shift to improve the sensitivity and raise the signal-tonoise ratio in vivo.…”

Sensitive and effective imaging of carbon monoxide in living systems with a near-infrared fluorescent probe

“…Soon thereaer, a large number of small molecule uorescent probes for CO detection continued to emerge. [21][22][23][24] For example, Feng's group is committed to developing a series of small molecule uorescent probes for CO detection, which can be used to detect CO in living cells and animals. 25,26 However, these probes have more or less certain disadvantages, such as poor sensitivity to CO, 27,28 or the need to use high concentrations of organic solvents, 29 or a shorter emission wavelength.…”