A hydrogen sulfide activated fluorescence probe for screening tumor cells and diagnosis of non-small cell lung carcinoma.

Fluorescence probes are applied as chemical tools for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. Despite the successful development of certain fluorescence probes, significant demand for enhancement remain in sensitive diagnosis and effective treatment. In this work, we developed a novel H2S-activable fluorescence probe, CerYT, utilizing nitrobenzoxadiazole (NBD) as the imaging fluorophore and ceritinib as a potent ALK kinase inhibitor for tumor cells. The probe exhibits good sensitivity (LOD = 121 nM) and specificity, and it can also detect H2S with precision in cells and tumor. Moreover, probe CerYT can exhibit enhanced fluorescence in tumor cells for sensitive tumor cell diagnosis, while simultaneously releasing the inhibitor ceritinib to induce significant damage to tumor cells. Consequently, the synergistic impact of ceritinib with H2S activation offers a highly efficacious diagnosis and therapeutic attribute for tumor cells and carcinoma.