Abstract

Acute lung injury (ALI) is a serious clinical condition with a high mortality rate. Oxidative stress and inflammatory responses play pivotal roles in the pathogenesis of ALI. ONOO− is a key mediator that exacerbates oxidative damage and microvascular permeability in ALI. Accurate detection of ONOO− would facilitate early diagnosis and intervention in ALI. Near-infrared fluorescence (NIRF) probes offer new solutions due to their sensitivity, depth of tissue penetration, and imaging capabilities. However, the developed ONOO− fluorescent probes face problems such as interference from other reactive oxygen species and easy intracellular diffusion. To address these issues, we introduced an innovative self-immobilizing NIRF probe, DCI2F-OTf, which was capable of monitoring ONOO− in vitro and in vivo. Importantly, leveraging the high reactivity of the methylene quinone (QM) intermediate, DCI2F-OTf was able to covalently label proteins in the presence of ONOO−, enabling in situ imaging. In mice models of ALI, DCI2F-OTf enabled real-time imaging of ONOO− levels and found that ONOO− was tightly correlated with the progression of ALI. Our findings demonstrated that DCI2F-OTf was a promising chemical tool for the detection of ONOO−, which could help to gain insight into the pathogenesis of ALI and monitor treatment efficacy.