Hyperhomocysteinemia is an established risk factor for
atherosclerosis and
vascular disease. Therefore, designing a
hyperhomocysteinemia specific probe is of great significance for the early warning of
cardiovascular diseases. However, developing probes that can efficiently and specifically recognize
homocysteine (Hcy) remains a tremendous challenge. Therefore, we designed an Hcy-specific
fluorescent probe (HSFP) with excellent selectivity and anti-interference capability. Interestingly, this probe can automatically "off-on" in water
solution, but the fluorescence of HSFP remains "off" when Hcy is present in the
solution. The spectroscopic data demonstrated that the fluorescence of HSFP attenuated 13.8 folds toward Hcy in water without interference from other biothiols and
amino acids. Furthermore, HSFP can sensitively reflect the change of Hcy content in cells. Therefore, HSFP was further applied to detect
hyperhomocysteinemia in vivo with high efficiency. In summary, we have developed an Hcy-specific
fluorescent probe to efficiently detect Hcy in vivo and in vitro, which may contribute to basic or clinical research.