The fluorescent bioprobe with aggregation-induced emission features for monitoring to carbon dioxide generation rate in single living cell and early identification of cancer cells

A novel fluorescent probe, tris (2-(dimethylamino) ethyl)-4,4′,4″-(1H-pyrrole-1,2,5-triyl) tribenzoate (TPP-TMAE), with aggregation-enhanced emission (AEE) feature showed a simple, highly selective, specific, and instant response to trace amount carbon dioxide (CO2). Because of this special characteristic, TPP-TMAE is ideal to be a biomarker for in-situ monitoring of the CO2 generation rate during the metabolism of single living cell. The rates in single living HeLa cell, MCF-7 cell, and MEF cell were 6.40 × 10−6±6.0 × 10−8 μg/h, 5.78 × 10−6±6.0 × 10−8 μg/h, and 4.27 × 10−7±4.0 × 10−9 μg/h, respectively. The distinct responses of TPP-TMAE to CO2 generated from cancer cells and normal cells suggested TPP-TMAE as a useful tool for deeper understanding metabolism process and distinguishing cancer cells from normal cells during the early diagnosis of cancers.