Zhiqiang Mao

HClO plays crucial roles in a wide range of biological and pathological processes. Recent studies have revealed that the generation of HClO has close links with the wound healing process. It's thus meaningful to develop a reliable method for monitoring HClO in wounded tissues. Toward this purpose, we herein report a rationally designed quinolone-based ratiometric two-photon fluorescent probe, <b>QClO</b>, for HClO. The probe <b>QClO</b> rapidly displays a drop in blue emission and an increase of

Peroxynitrite (ONOO^- ) plays a critical role in Alzheimer's disease (AD). To reveal the ONOO^- influx in AD brains, an activatable activity-based fluorescence probe Rd-DPA3 was designed by a structure-modulated strategy. Taking advantage of ONOO^- -initiated two-step cascade reactions of a novel chemical trigger, Rd-DPA3 specifically responds to ONOO^- in 0.3 mM of other reactive oxygen species (ROS) and varied proteins, and gives an intensive fluorescenc

As a pivotal signalling molecule involved in various physiological and pathological processes, nitric oxide (NO) has motivated increasing interest in the last few decades. Although a considerable number of fluorescent probes have been developed for NO imaging, the <i>in situ</i> tracking of this gas molecule in biological events remains a big challenge, mainly because of the relatively short excitation and/or emission wavelengths, which are subject to background interference and lowered collecti

Two-photon (TP) fluorescent probes are potential candidates for near-infrared (NIR) imaging which holds great promise in biological research. However, currently, most TP probes emit at wavelength <600 nm, which impedes their practical applications. In this work, we explored the TP properties of a silicon-rhodamine (SiR) derivative and hence developed the first SiR scaffold based "NIR-to-NIR" TP probe (SiRNO) for nitric oxide (NO). SiRNO exhibited high sensitivity and specificity, as well as fast

<i>In situ</i> fluorescence imaging of nitric oxide (NO) is a powerful tool for studying the critical roles of NO in biological events. However, the selective imaging of NO is still a challenge because most currently available fluorescent probes rely on the <i>o</i>-phenylenediamine (OPD) recognition site, which reacts with both NO and some abundant reactive carbonyl species (RCS) (such as dehydroascorbic acid and methylglyoxal) and some reactive oxygen/nitrogen species (ROS/RNS). To address thi

Inflammation is an important protection reaction in living organisms associated with many diseases. Since peroxynitrite (ONOO^-) is engaged in the inflammatory processes, illustrating the key nexus between ONOO^- and inflammation is significant. Due to the lack of sensitive ONOO^- <i>in vivo</i> detection methods, the research still remains at its infancy. Herein, a highly sensitive NIR fluorescence probe DDAO-PN for <i>in vivo</i> detection of ONOO^- in i

A malignant tumor remains one of the leading causes of deaths across the world. Thus, diagnosis of tumor development with noninvasive visualizing methods is significant for tumor therapy. Herein, an activatable two-photon NIR fluorescent probe DHQ-Rd-PN for in vivo imaging of peroxynitrite in a tumor was elaborately designed. The probe demonstrated an increased NIR emission in response to peroxynitrite in vitro, which ensured that the probe detects ONOO– in cell and in vivo. Cellular imaging res

Stroke is one of the leading causes of death and disability in the world, which is associated with malfunction of reactive oxygen species and reactive nitrogen species (ROS/RNS) in cerebral microvessels. <i>In vivo</i> monitoring these species, such as ONOO^-, with high selectivity in stroke process is of great significance for early diagnoses and therapies of the disease. Herein, by engineering an indoline-2,3-dione moiety as the recognizing domain, we proposed a novel fluorescence pr

Zn(2+) plays vital roles in regulating physiological and pathological processes. A number of diseases are associated with the disruption of intracellular free Zn(2+) homeostasis, and the relationship is still uncovered. Thus, it is important to monitor intracellular free Zn(2+) ions in real time, which is still challenging due to the low content of intracellular free Zn(2+). In this work, we report on the design and synthesis of a new two-photon (2P) fluorescent probe, QZn, based on quinoline de

Alcohol-induced liver injury has been a terrible threat to human health and life. The relationship between HClO and the process is unclear. Thus, a ratiometric two-photon fluorescent probe for HClO was deliberately constructed and revealed the generation of HClO in the alcohol-induced liver injury process for the first time.

Dual-channel fluorescent probes could respond to a specific target and emit different wavelengths of fluorescence before and after the response. Such probes could alleviate the influence caused by the variation of the probe concentration, excitation intensity, and so on. However, for most dual-channel fluorescent probes, the probe and fluorophore faced spectral overlap, which reduced sensitivity and accuracy. Herein, we introduced a cysteine (Cys)-responsive and near-infrared (NIR) emissive AIEg