A dual-response fluorescent probe for NH and viscosity in living cells and zebrafish to evaluate liver injury.

Hydrazide drugs can cause severe drug-induced liver injury owing to the enzymatic release of NH in the liver. Also, changes in cellular viscosity are associated with liver damage. Thus, simultaneous monitoring of changes in NH levels and viscosity can be used to evaluate the side effects of hydrazide drugs. Herein, we firstly reported a near-infrared fluorescent probe (FNN), which contains 1,8-naphthalimide as the fluorophore and a chalcone moiety as the responsive receptor, for sensitively detecting intracellular viscosity and NH. FNN showed a fast 'turn-on' fluorescence response to NH with excellent selectivity. Additionally, FNN could selectively track viscosity without interference from polarity, pH, and other active species. Furthermore, imaging experiments suggested that FNN could be successfully applied in living cells and zebrafish larvae and embryos, which is of great importance for effectively assessing the degree of liver injury.