Design and application: A ordered dual-locked fluorescence probe for hydrogen sulfide specific reaction and lipid droplets-targeted

Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and lipid droplets (LDs) have been identified as two key biomarkers in cancer and inflammation. Until now, there have been few reports on the detection of H2S targeted LDs. Motivated by this purpose, we constructed a novel fluorescence probe (TBAF-NBD), which consisted of NBD (7-nitro-1,2,3-ben-zoxadiazole) ether bond as a specific reaction site for H2S, and the triphenylamine (TBAF) acted as the LDs-targeting moiety. After the reaction between TBAF-NBD and H2S, the fluorescence group (TBAF-OH) was released, which could target LDs and emit strong fluorescence. Therefore, a sensitive method for the detection of H2S targeted LDs was established with a linear range of 0.5-18 & mu;M and a detection limit of 0.09 & mu;M. Moreover, TBAF-NBD had successfully been applied in imaging H2S in cancer cells, in inflammatory cells and zebrafish with excellent biocompatibility, low background interference, which had demonstrated that TBAF-NBD hold great potential in the accurate diagnosis of related-diseases.