biostudies-literatureMa PResearch Foundation of Education Bureau of Hunan Province5164https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC9416243biostudies-literatureUnknown27(16)Nitrite (NO₂^-) is a common pollutant and is widely present in the environment and in human bodies. The development of a rapid and accurate method for NO₂^- detection is always a very important task. Herein, we synthesized a partnered excited-state intermolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) fluorophore using the "multi-component one pot" method, and used this as a probe (ESIPT-F) for sensing NO₂^-. ESIPT-F exhibited bimodal emission in different solvents because of the solvent-mediated ESIPT reaction. The addition of NO₂^- caused an obvious change in colors and tautomeric fluorescence due to the graft of NO₂^- into the ESIPT-F molecules. From this basis, highly sensitive and selective analysis of NO₂^- was developed using tautomeric emission signaling, achieving sensitive detection of NO₂^- in the concentration range of 0~45 mM with a detection limit of 12.5 nM. More importantly, ESIPT-F showed the ability to anchor proteins and resulted in a recognition-driven "on-off" ESIPT process, enabling it to become a powerful tool for fluorescence imaging of proteins or protein-based subcellular organelles. MTT experimental results revealed that ESIPT-F is low cytotoxic and has good membrane permeability to cells. Thus, ESIPT-F was further employed to image the tunneling nanotube in vitro HEC-1A cells, displaying high-resolution performance.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland)Partnered Excited-State Intermolecular Proton Transfer Fluorescence (P-ESIPT) Signaling for Nitrate Sensing and High-Resolution Cell-Imaging.PMC941624318A141Ma PGong FQian YXia JCao ZZhu HHe LfalsePartnered Excited-State Intermolecular Proton Transfer Fluorescence (P-ESIPT) Signaling for Nitrate Sensing and High-Resolution Cell-Imaging.Nitrite (NO₂^-) is a common pollutant and is widely present in the environment and in human bodies. The development of a rapid and accurate method for NO₂^- detection is always a very important task. Herein, we synthesized a partnered excited-state intermolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) fluorophore using the "multi-component one pot" method, and used this as a probe (ESIPT-F) for sensing NO₂^-. ESIPT-F exhibited bimodal emission in different solvents because of the solvent-mediated ESIPT reaction. The addition of NO₂^- caused an obvious change in colors and tautomeric fluorescence due to the graft of NO₂^- into the ESIPT-F molecules. From this basis, highly sensitive and selective analysis of NO₂^- was developed using tautomeric emission signaling, achieving sensitive detection of NO₂^- in the concentration range of 0~45 mM with a detection limit of 12.5 nM. More importantly, ESIPT-F showed the ability to anchor proteins and resulted in a recognition-driven "on-off" ESIPT process, enabling it to become a powerful tool for fluorescence imaging of proteins or protein-based subcellular organelles. MTT experimental results revealed that ESIPT-F is low cytotoxic and has good membrane permeability to cells. Thus, ESIPT-F was further employed to image the tunneling nanotube in vitro HEC-1A cells, displaying high-resolution performance.2022-01-01T00:00:00Z2022 Aug2024-10-16T04:13:39.52Z2024-10-16T04:13:39.52ZS-EPMC94162433601440410.3390/molecules27165164