Hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) is recognized as a critical gaseous signaling molecule involved in multiple physiological and pathological processes. The important pathophysiological roles of H₂S have spurred intense interest in developing fluorescent probes for imaging of H₂S. Using a piperazidine-bridged styrylpyridinium as the push-pull fluorophore and a 7-nitro-1,2,3-benzoxadiazole moiety as the response group, herein we developed a mitochondria-targeted fluorescent probe MNOP-H₂S, which exhibited remarkable fluorescence turn-on (>130 fold), large Stokes shift (190 nm), excellent sensitivity and selectivity. Importantly, the probe was characterized by an ultralow detection limit (29 nM), thereby being successfully applied to monitor mitochondrial basal H₂S levels in various types of cells and zebrafish, to distinguish cancer cells from normal cells (even from each other) and to reveal that the endogenously produced H₂S in mitochondria is a key mediator for the endothelial cell migration stimulated by vascular endothelial growth factor.

硫化氢（H ₂ S）被认为是参与多种生理和病理过程的重要气体信号分子。H ₂ S的重要病理生理作用引起了人们对开发用于H ₂ S成像的荧光探针的强烈兴趣。使用哌嗪啶桥联的苯乙烯吡啶作为推挽式荧光团，并使用7-硝基-1,2,3-苯并恶二唑部分作为响应组，在此我们开发了针对线粒体的荧光探针MNOP-H ₂ S，具有出色的荧光开启（> 130倍），大斯托克斯位移（190 nm），出色的灵敏度和选择性。重要的是，该探针具有超低检测限（29 nM）的特征，从而成功地用于监测各种类型细胞和斑马鱼中线粒体基础H ₂ S的水平，以区分癌细胞与正常细胞（甚至彼此）。揭示线粒体中内生产生的H ₂ S是血管内皮生长因子刺激的内皮细胞迁移的关键介质。