The Detection of Divalent Iron and Reactive Oxygen Species During Ferroptosis with the Use of a Dual-Reaction Turn-On Fluorescent Probe

Purpose: Ferroptosis, a programmed cell death modality, is an iron-dependent, non-apoptosis pathway that is characterized by the upregulation of divalent iron and reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels. However, the sensitive and rapid detection to track changes in ferroptosis is challenging, partially due to the lack of methods for monitoring the Fe(II) accumulation and ROS generation. Procedures: Herein, we reported a dual-reaction fluorescent probe DR-1 with turn-on response, which realized the simultaneous visualizing of Fe(II) and ROS with a single probe. The structure of fluorescence quenching group and turn-on fluorophore constitute a double switch for DR-1, which increases its specificity and stability. Results: During ferroptotic cell death, the upregulation of ROS levels led to the cleavage of quenching group of DR-1, and the aggregation of Fe(II) resulting in fluorescence recovery. Conclusions: Overall, this study provides a new dual-reaction probe that shows the great potential to explore the mechanism of ferroptosis in vitro and in vivo by fluorescence imaging.