2. Academic Validation
  3. A Water-Soluble Near-Infrared Ratiometric Fluorescent Probe for Selective Detection of Monoamine Oxidase A Activity

A Water-Soluble Near-Infrared Ratiometric Fluorescent Probe for Selective Detection of Monoamine Oxidase A Activity

  • Chembiochem. 2025 Oct 28:e202500462. doi: 10.1002/cbic.202500462.
Wenyu Wei 1 2,  Shanshan Liu 1 2,  Pingzhou Wu 1 2,  Dongqing Wang 1 3,  Qiang Guo 4,  Zhuang Xiong 5,  Jian-Lin Chen 4,  Jin-Peng Sun 6,  Jie Zhang 1 2,  Hongyan Sun 1 2
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Department of Chemistry and COSDAF (Centre of Super-Diamond and Advanced Films), City University of Hong Kong, 83 Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong, 999077, China.
  • 2 Shenzhen Research Institute of City University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, 518057, China.
  • 3 Sichuan Provincial Key Laboratory for Human Disease Gene Study and the Center for Medical Genetics, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Sichuan Academy of Medical Sciences & Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 610072, China.
  • 4 Department of Applied Science, School of Science and Technology, Hong Kong Metropolitan University, Homantin, Kowloon, Hong Kong, 999077, China.
  • 5 School of Pharmacy and Food Engineering, Wuyi University, Jiangmen, 529020, PR China.
  • 6 Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, 250012, Shandong, P.R.China.
PMID: 41147122 DOI: 10.1002/cbic.202500462
Abstract

Monoamine Oxidase A (MAO-A) plays a crucial role in neurotransmitter metabolism and oxidative stress regulation and is implicated in various neurological disorders and Cancer progression. However, its detection is hindered by high structural similarity to its isoform MAO-B and limitations of conventional methods, which exhibit poor specificity, low sensitivity, and spectral crosstalk. To overcome these challenges, Cyma, a water-soluble near-infrared ratiometric probe engineered on a cyanine platform, is developed. Cyma integrates a sulfonated cyanine core for improved water solubility, a clorgyline-derived recognition unit to confer MAO-A selectivity, and a propylamine moiety to enable enzymatic activation. Upon interaction with MAO-A, Cyma undergoes a specific 1,6-elimination and Smiles rearrangement, yielding a distinct fluorescence shift from 805 nm to 740 nm. Cyma demonstrates excellent selectivity for MAO-A over MAO-B and exhibits high sensitivity (detection limit: 0.0035 μg mL-1), with a strong linear correlation between ratiometric fluorescence intensity and MAO-A concentration. Furthermore, excellent biocompatibility and MAO-A detection ability of Cyma are demonstrated in SH-SY5Y cells. These findings establish Cyma as a powerful tool for selectively detecting MAO-A activity, offering significant potential for disease diagnosis, therapeutic monitoring, and intraoperative imaging.

Keywords

near‐infrared imaging; activatable probe; monoamine oxidase A; ratiometric detection; water‐soluble.

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