Citation: Pei Huang, Weijie Zhang, Fangjun Huo, Caixia Yin. Based on GSH aggregating AIE and disaggregating ACQ to achieve non-competitive discriminative detection of Cys and GSH in living cells[J]. Chinese Chemical Letters, ;2026, 37(4): 111163. doi: 10.1016/j.cclet.2025.111163 shu

Based on GSH aggregating AIE and disaggregating ACQ to achieve non-competitive discriminative detection of Cys and GSH in living cells

Pei Huang ^a ,
Weijie Zhang ^a ,
Fangjun Huo ^{b, *,} ,
Caixia Yin ^{a, *,}

a.
Institute of Molecular Science, Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology and Molecular Engineering of Ministry of Education, Shanxi University, Taiyuan 030006, China
b.
Research Institute of Applied Chemistry, Shanxi University, Taiyuan 030006, China

huofj@sxu.edu.cn

yincx@sxu.edu.cn

Received Date: 21 January 2025
Revised Date: 26 March 2025
Accepted Date: 31 March 2025
Available Online: 1 April 2025

Figures(9)

Up to now, aggregation-induced emission (AIE) and aggregation-caused quenching (ACQ) have been widely used for fluorescence sensing, respectively. In our study, we covalently linked cyanine dye and 2-cyanobenzothiazole (CBT) to construct fluorescent probe NPCS. Through spectroscopic testing, it was found that the probe itself has both AIE and ACQ behavior. And these acts are borne by CBT and cyanine (CY) respectively. In this study, it was found that glutathione (GSH) showed aggregation and disaggregation effects on two parts of the probe, namely: low concentration of GSH mainly aggravated AIE, and high concentration of GSH disaggregated ACQ of the probe, both of which led to fluorescence enhancement effect and achieved turn-on fluorescence detection of high and low concentrations of GSH. Cysteine (Cys), on the other hand, can undergo a click reaction with the cyano group to generate a stable fluorescent signal. Since Cys does not have the ability to disaggregate, the probe can achieve non-competitive discrimination detection of Cys and GSH. Real-time discriminatory detection of changes in Cys and GSH levels was demonstrated in living cells. The results of this study provide a new perspective for the development of emerging recognition mechanisms and multi-functionality of probes.
- AIE,
- ACQ,
- Aggregation,
- Disaggregation,
- Cys and GSH,
- Non-competitive
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