Development of a Series of Fluorescent Probes for the Early Diagnostic Imaging of Sulfur Mustard Poisoning

Sulfur mustard is one of the most harmful chemical warfare agents and can induce skin, eye, and lung injuries. However, it is hard for medical stuff to diagnose sulfur mustard poisoning early because of the incubation period after sulfur mustard exposure. Detecting intact sulfur mustard in vivo might be an effective approach for the early diagnosis of sulfur mustard poisoning. A series of fluorescent probes for intact sulfur mustard detection were developed in this study. All of the developed probes could react with sulfur mustard selectivity. Among these probes, SiNIR-SM exhibited an extremely good response rate and a high off/on contrast. To the best of our knowledge, SiNIR-SM is the first near-infrared fluorescent probe for the sulfur mustard detection. Both SiNIR-SM and OxSM-1 were successfully applied to image sulfur mustard in living cells. Using SiNIR-SM, we found that sulfur mustard accumulates in the mitochondria of living cells. This result could provide a new insight for the treatment of sulfur mustard injuries. We also found that SiNIR-SM is suitable for the early diagnostic imaging of sulfur mustard poisoning in SKH-1 mice via the detection of intact sulfur mustard.