Fluorescent probe for evaluating the preventive utility of plumbagin in ischemia–reperfusion injury

Ischemia-reperfusion injury (I/R) refers to the occurrence of cellular metabolic dysfunction, tissue structural damage. Recent research mentioned that certain quinones have protective effects on cells during I/R, while studies on plumbagin in this regard are still lacking. Therefore, the novel NIR probe A-01 was rationally designed to evaluate the protective effects of plumbagin on cells undergoing I/R injury. First, flash photolysis experiments and triplet- triplet energy transfer experiments of A-01 proving that the change of fluorescence was all attributable to the change in cell structure. Importantly, the fluorescence of A-01 was significantly increased in the four cell I/R models, while the addition of low doses of plumbagin resulted in fewer changes in fluorescence, indicating its protective effect on I/R injury. Moreover, probe A-01 effectually imaged the microenvironmental changes during I/R in the lower limbs of mice over time. Notably, the effective application of probe A-01 furnishes new insights and evaluation modalities for natural products in the prevention and treatment of related diseases.