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Preparation of a Novel pH-responsive Fluorescent Probe Based on an Imidazo[1,2-a]indole Fluorophore and its Application in Detecting Extremely Low pH in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

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Abstract

A novel pH-responsive probe based on an imidazo[1,2-a]indole fluorophore architecture is reported. The probe was highly selective to strongly acidic pH (pKa = 3.56) with high sensitivity and a fast response time (within 30 s). The probe did not demonstrate any fluorescence changes in the presence of interfering metal ions, and it featured excellent reversibility under strongly acidic conditions. The mechanism of detection of the probe was determined to be based on intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) at different pH. The probe was also able to be used for imaging for detecting acidic pH in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

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Data Availability

The authors declare that the data supporting the findings of this study are available in the article and the supplementary materials.

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Funding

This work was supported by the Innovative Research Programs of Higher Education of Shandong Province (2019KJC009), the Science Foundation of Shandong Province for Excellent Young Scholars (ZR2017JL015), and the Natural Science Foundation of China (21,602,153).

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Author notes

  1. Yanhao Xu and Ruikang Duan contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Pharmacy, Shandong First Medical University & Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Taian, Shandong, 271016, People’s Republic of China

    Yanhao Xu, Hao Liu, Chengcai Xia, Guiyun Duan & Yanqing Ge

  2. Shanghai Fengxian Central Hospital, Shanghai, 201400, People’s Republic of China

    Ruikang Duan

Authors
  1. Yanhao Xu
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  2. Ruikang Duan
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  3. Hao Liu
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  4. Chengcai Xia
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  5. Guiyun Duan
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  6. Yanqing Ge
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by Yanhao Xu, and Ruikang Duan. Data analysis were performed by Hao Liu, and Chengcai Xia. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Guiyun Duan and Yanqing Ge. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yanqing Ge.

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The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.

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For this type of study, the ethical approval was not required, because this study does not involve cell or animal manipulation.

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Xu, Y., Duan, R., Liu, H. et al. Preparation of a Novel pH-responsive Fluorescent Probe Based on an Imidazo[1,2-a]indole Fluorophore and its Application in Detecting Extremely Low pH in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. J Fluoresc 31, 1219–1225 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10895-021-02739-8

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