Visualization of hydrogen polysulfides in living cells and in vivo via a near-infrared fluorescent probe

Hydrogen polysulfides (H 2 S n , n  > 1), as the oxidized forms of H 2 S, have attracted increasing attention these years due to their involvement in signaling transduction and cytoprotective processes. It is necessary to detect H 2 S n in living systems for the study of their functions. In this work, we report a BODIPY-based near-infrared emitting fluorescence probe NIR-PHS1 , with “turn-on” response, rapid response rate (within 10 min), outstanding selectivity and excellent sensitivity (detection limit = 12 nM) response towards H 2 S n . The probe was successfully applied to the visualizing of endogenous H 2 S n in living cells. Moreover, it can be used for near-infrared in vivo imaging of H 2 S n in living mice. Therefore, NIR-PHS1 could be a potential imaging tool to study the biological roles of H 2 S n in living systems.