A near-infrared (NIR) and water-soluble probe was synthesized and studied for the detection of Cys/Hcy in aqueous solution, living cells and mice. The probe was composed of cyanine derivative as the NIR fluorescent reporting unit and pyrimidiny-thioether moiety as the Cys/Hcy responsive unit. Treatment with Cys/Hcy induced the formation of sulfur-substituted products, then intramolecular rearrangement reaction would occur to produce amino-substituted products and resulting in enhanced red fluorescence emissions. It could be applied to sense Cys/Hcy both in solution with the detection limit of 0.17 μM (or 0.32 μM) and in living cells. Cell imaging experiments proved that such a probe exhibited good cell penetration. In addition, the probe could detect Cys/Hcy in live mice with strong turn-on fluorescent response.

合成并研究了一种近红外 (NIR) 和水溶性探针，用于检测水溶液、活细胞和小鼠中的 Cys/Hcy。该探针由作为NIR荧光报告单元的花青衍生物和作为Cys/Hcy响应单元的嘧啶-硫醚部分组成。Cys/Hcy处理诱导硫取代产物的形成，然后发生分子内重排反应产生氨基取代产物并导致增强的红色荧光发射。它可应用于检测限为 0.17 μM（或 0.32 μM）的溶液中和活细胞中的 Cys/Hcy 检测。细胞成像实验证明，这种探针表现出良好的细胞穿透性。此外，该探针可以检测具有强烈开启荧光反应的活鼠体内的Cys/Hcy。