A neoteric dual-signal colorimetric fluorescent probe for detecting endogenous/exogenous hydrogen peroxide in cells and monitoring drug-induced hepatotoxicity

Abstract Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), one of the most important reactive oxygen species (ROS), can be generated endogenously in the liver and has been deemed as a biomarker for evaluating drug-induced liver injury (DILI). Therefore, it is highly crucial to construct an effective method for detecting H2O2 in the liver in order to evaluate DILI. Herein, a neoteric dual-signal colorimetric fluorescent probe XH-2 for sensing hydrogen peroxide was engineered and synthesized. Borate was grafted as a specific recognition group onto the fluorophore XH-1 (ΦF = 0.34) to establish a structurally unprecedented probe. The experimental results manifested that probe XH-2 (ΦF = 0.15) was able to detect hydrogen peroxide using a fluorescence method with an excellent linear range of 0–140 μM (R2 = 0.9974) and an especially low detection limit of 91 nM (λex/em = 570 nm/638 nm). In addition, the probe was capable of monitoring hydrogen peroxide in a colorimetric manner with the linear range of 0–110 μM (R2 = 0.9965). Furthermore, the specificity, applicability in serum (98.6–109.1%) and indirect detection of glucose make the probe XH-2 a superior probe. Based on its low cytotoxicity, the probe was successfully applied to monitor endogenous/exogenous hydrogen peroxide and quantitatively determine the concentration level of hydrogen peroxide at a range of 0–120 μM (R2 = 0.9859) in HepG2 cells. Ultimately, the probe could effectively monitor the level of hydrogen peroxide during DILI in HepG2 cells.