A non-peptide-based chymotrypsin-targeted long-wavelength emission fluorescent probe with large Stokes shift and its application in bioimaging

As a hydrolase,chymotrypsin(CHT)is involved in many physiological activities,and its abnormal activity is closely related to diabetes,pancreatic fibrosis,chronic pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer.In this work,an innovative long-wavelength emission fluorescent probe TCF-CHT was designed and synthesized for the high specificity detection of CHT,which utilized TCF-OH and a mimetic peptide substrate 4-bromobutyryl as chromogenic group and recognition group,respectively.TCF-CHT exhibited excellent selectivity and eye-catching sensitivity(8.91 ng/m L)towards CHT,“off-on”long-wavelength emission at 670 nm and large Stokes shift(140 nm).Furthermore,the successful fulfillment and perfect performance in imaging endogenous CHT in complex organisms(P815 cells,HepG2 cells,zebrafish and tumor-bearing mice)verified its potential as a powerful tool for the recognition of CHT in complicated biological environments.