An indanone-based fluorescent probe for detection and imaging of Cys/Hcy in living cells.

[Display omitted] • A novel indanone-based fluorescent probe for detection Cys/Hcy was developed. • The stronger acceptor makes the probe with longer emission and higher activity. • The detection mechanism should be from ICT change of the probe after with Cys/Hcy. • The probe has low cytotoxicity and been applied for imaging the biothiols in cells. Effective detection of Cys and Hcy plays an important role in the diagnosis of diseases. In this work, a novel indanone-based fluorescent probe INIAc-CN for sensitively and effectively detecting Cys and Hcy was developed. The probe exhibited weak fluorescence, but obvious fluorescent enhancement after reacted with Cys/Hcy. Moreover, the good anti-interference and low cytotoxicity of the probe made it successfully applied for monitoring Cys and Hcy of in living cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]