Organic fluorescent probe for concurrent imaging and apoptosis induction in cancer cells in vivo and in vitro by utilizing endogenous hydrogen sulfide

The organic fluorescent probe XZH1-H2S was successfully designed and synthesized to recognize exo- and endogenous hydrogen sulfide in cancer cells both in vivo and in vitro. The probe has low toxicity and shown favorable anti-interference performance, accompanying a detection limit of 180 nM due to H2S-induced effective thiolysis of dinitrophenyl ether. The fluorescent probe XZH1-H2S reacted with H2S to release a fluorophore that could inhibit MCF-7 cell proliferation with an IC50 of 10.12 μM. In view of its favorable biocompatibility, this fluorescence probe is also successfully used in vivo imaging and treatment of tumor-bearing nude mouse with good tumor inhibition rate of 69 %. Therefore, we successfully engineered an easy-to-synthesize bifunctional organic fluorescent probe for concurrent imaging and apoptosis induction in cancer cells in vitro and in vivo. The study is expected to be a valuable resource for breast cancer theranostics.