Kidney-Targeted Near-Infrared Fluorescence Probe Reveals That SO2 Is a Biomarker for Cisplatin-Induced Acute Kidney Injury

With the widespread use of drugs, drug-induced acute kidney injury (AKI) has become an increasingly serious health concern worldwide. Currently, early diagnosis of drug-induced AKI remains challenging because of the lack of effective biomarkers and noninvasive imaging tools. SO2 plays important physiological roles in living systems and is an important antioxidant for maintaining redox homeostasis. However, the relationship between SO2 (in water as SO3 2–/HSO3 –) and drug-induced AKI remains largely unknown. Herein, we report the highly sensitive near-infrared fluorescence probe DSMN, which for the first time reveals the relationship between SO2 and drug-induced AKI. The probe responds to SO3 2–/HSO3 – selectively and rapidly (within seconds) and shows a significant turn-on fluorescence at 710 nm with a large Stokes shift (125 nm). With these properties, the probe was successfully applied to detect SO2 in living cells and mice. Importantly, the probe can selectively target the kidneys, allowing for the detection of changes in the SO2 concentration in the kidneys. Based on this, DSMN was successfully used to detect cisplatin-induced AKI and revealed an increase in the SO2 levels. The results indicate that SO2 is a new biomarker for AKI and that DSMN is a powerful tool for studying and diagnosing drug-induced AKI.