A novel fluorescent probe targeting lysosome for rapid imaging of HCC biomarker alpha-L-fucosidase

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fifth most prevalent and the third most lethal cancer in the world. Alpha- L-fucosidase (AFU), a lysosomal enzyme, which is considered to be a new tumor marker for HCC since many researches reported increased AFU serum levels in patients with HCC. So, a novel turn-on fluorescent probe named Hcy-AFU was designed and synthesized for real-time monitoring AFU located in lysosome. At last, the probe was successfully applied to imaging in liver cancer and normal cells. The experimental results showed that the activity of AFU in cancer cells is more higher than normal cells. We envisioned that the probe can provide an invaluable tool to study the occurrence and development of HCC at cell levels, and afford a potential method for the early detection of HCC.