Peroxynitrite-activated fluorescent probe with two reaction triggers for pathological diagnosis and therapeutic evaluation of inflammation

Excessive peroxynitrite (ONOO−) is closely related to the occurrence and progression of inflammation. Therefore, the development of an efficacious ONOO− activatable probe holds great potential for the early diagnosis of pathological inflammation, and the direct evaluation of the therapeutic efficacy of active protectants. In this work, a new ONOO−-activated fluorescent probe (SZP) which greatly improved the specificity and sensitivity (LOD = 8.03 nM) with large Stokes shift (150 nm) through introducing two reaction triggers (diphenyl phosphinate moiety, CC unsaturated bond) was rationally designed for rapid detecting ONOO− (within 2 min). The excellent properties of probe SZP enable it to realize the fluorescence-guided diagnosis of inflammation. More importantly, probe SZP has also been utilized to assess the anti-inflammatory efficacy of traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) active ingredients for the remediation of inflammation by monitoring ONOO− fluctuation for the first time.