A novel near-infrared fluorescent probe for selectively sensing nitroreductase (NTR) in an aqueous medium

摘要

A novel near-infrared (NIR) fluorescent probe based on cyanine dyes was designed and synthesized to detect nitroreductase (NTR) activity. Upon reaction with NTR, the nitro-group of p-nitrobenzyl moiety was reduced to amino-group and therefore renews the π-electron conjugation of the dye, resulting in the intense NIR fluorescent emission (708 nm). This redox-induced NIR-fluorescence probe has been successfully applied to the detection of NTR activity under physiological conditions with high selectivity.