A photostable luminescent iridium(III) complex probe for imaging endogenous mitochondrial sulfur dioxide in living cells

Mengzhao Jia; Jia Wu; Xiaolei Wu; Daniel Shiu-Hin Chan; Bingjie Hu; Chun-Yuen Wong; Chung-Hang Leung; Kai Yang; Wanhe Wang

doi:10.1016/j.saa.2025.126147

A photostable luminescent iridium(III) complex probe for imaging endogenous mitochondrial sulfur dioxide in living cells

Mengzhao Jia (Co-first Author), Jia Wu (Co-first Author), Xiaolei Wu (Co-first Author), Daniel Shiu-Hin Chan, Bingjie Hu, Chun-Yuen Wong, Chung-Hang Leung^*, Kai Yang^*, Wanhe Wang^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Department of Chemistry

Research output: Journal Publications and Reviews › RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal › peer-review

Abstract

Sulfur dioxide (SO₂) is an important signaling gas molecule, but its aberration is highly associated with inflammatory diseases and cancers. Luminescence probes for SO₂ have emerged as essential instruments for elucidating its biological roles and facilitating disease diagnosis, owing to their high sensitivity and capabilities for real-time detection. Nevertheless, the majority of current probes lack subcellular selectivity and suffer from limited photostability. In this work, we develop an Ir(III)-based luminescence probe (Ir3) for the rapid, real-time, and accurate detection of SO₂ in aqueous solution. This probe exhibits low cytotoxicity and provides exceptional imaging of mitochondrial SO₂ in living cells. We anticipate that this probe will serve as a foundational tool for the advancement of effective imaging technologies for SO₂, thereby enhancing the clinical and biomedical applications of Ir(III) complex-based detection probes. © 2025 Elsevier B.V.

Original language	English
Article number	126147
Journal	Spectrochimica Acta - Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy
Volume	338
Online published	31 Mar 2025
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.saa.2025.126147
Publication status	Online published - 31 Mar 2025

Funding

This work is supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (D5000230060), the Key Research and Development Program of Shaanxi (2024SF-YBXM-418), the Science and Technology Development Fund, Macau SAR, China (File no. 005/2023/SKL, 0020/2022/A1, 0045/2023/AMJ, 0032/2023/RIB2), the University of Macau, Macau SAR, China (File no. MYRG-GRG2023-00194-ICMS-UMDF), the State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine, the University of Macau, Macau SAR, China (File no. SKL-QRCM-IRG2023-025).

Research Keywords

Imaging
Iridium(III) complex
Mitochondria
Photostability
Sulfur dioxide

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This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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Jia, M., Wu, J., Wu, X., Chan, D. S.-H., Hu, B., Wong, C.-Y., Leung, C.-H., Yang, K., & Wang, W. (2025). A photostable luminescent iridium(III) complex probe for imaging endogenous mitochondrial sulfur dioxide in living cells. Spectrochimica Acta - Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy, 338, Article 126147. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.saa.2025.126147

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title = "A photostable luminescent iridium(III) complex probe for imaging endogenous mitochondrial sulfur dioxide in living cells",

abstract = "Sulfur dioxide (SO2) is an important signaling gas molecule, but its aberration is highly associated with inflammatory diseases and cancers. Luminescence probes for SO2 have emerged as essential instruments for elucidating its biological roles and facilitating disease diagnosis, owing to their high sensitivity and capabilities for real-time detection. Nevertheless, the majority of current probes lack subcellular selectivity and suffer from limited photostability. In this work, we develop an Ir(III)-based luminescence probe (Ir3) for the rapid, real-time, and accurate detection of SO2 in aqueous solution. This probe exhibits low cytotoxicity and provides exceptional imaging of mitochondrial SO2 in living cells. We anticipate that this probe will serve as a foundational tool for the advancement of effective imaging technologies for SO2, thereby enhancing the clinical and biomedical applications of Ir(III) complex-based detection probes. {\textcopyright} 2025 Elsevier B.V.",

keywords = "Imaging, Iridium(III) complex, Mitochondria, Photostability, Sulfur dioxide",

author = "Mengzhao Jia and Jia Wu and Xiaolei Wu and Chan, {Daniel Shiu-Hin} and Bingjie Hu and Chun-Yuen Wong and Chung-Hang Leung and Kai Yang and Wanhe Wang",

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day = "31",

doi = "10.1016/j.saa.2025.126147",

language = "English",

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A photostable luminescent iridium(III) complex probe for imaging endogenous mitochondrial sulfur dioxide in living cells. / Jia, Mengzhao (Co-first Author); Wu, Jia (Co-first Author); Wu, Xiaolei (Co-first Author) et al.
In: Spectrochimica Acta - Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy, Vol. 338, 126147, 05.10.2025.

Research output: Journal Publications and Reviews › RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal › peer-review

TY - JOUR

T1 - A photostable luminescent iridium(III) complex probe for imaging endogenous mitochondrial sulfur dioxide in living cells

AU - Jia, Mengzhao

AU - Wu, Jia

AU - Wu, Xiaolei

AU - Chan, Daniel Shiu-Hin

AU - Hu, Bingjie

AU - Wong, Chun-Yuen

AU - Leung, Chung-Hang

AU - Yang, Kai

AU - Wang, Wanhe

PY - 2025/3/31

Y1 - 2025/3/31

N2 - Sulfur dioxide (SO2) is an important signaling gas molecule, but its aberration is highly associated with inflammatory diseases and cancers. Luminescence probes for SO2 have emerged as essential instruments for elucidating its biological roles and facilitating disease diagnosis, owing to their high sensitivity and capabilities for real-time detection. Nevertheless, the majority of current probes lack subcellular selectivity and suffer from limited photostability. In this work, we develop an Ir(III)-based luminescence probe (Ir3) for the rapid, real-time, and accurate detection of SO2 in aqueous solution. This probe exhibits low cytotoxicity and provides exceptional imaging of mitochondrial SO2 in living cells. We anticipate that this probe will serve as a foundational tool for the advancement of effective imaging technologies for SO2, thereby enhancing the clinical and biomedical applications of Ir(III) complex-based detection probes. © 2025 Elsevier B.V.

AB - Sulfur dioxide (SO2) is an important signaling gas molecule, but its aberration is highly associated with inflammatory diseases and cancers. Luminescence probes for SO2 have emerged as essential instruments for elucidating its biological roles and facilitating disease diagnosis, owing to their high sensitivity and capabilities for real-time detection. Nevertheless, the majority of current probes lack subcellular selectivity and suffer from limited photostability. In this work, we develop an Ir(III)-based luminescence probe (Ir3) for the rapid, real-time, and accurate detection of SO2 in aqueous solution. This probe exhibits low cytotoxicity and provides exceptional imaging of mitochondrial SO2 in living cells. We anticipate that this probe will serve as a foundational tool for the advancement of effective imaging technologies for SO2, thereby enhancing the clinical and biomedical applications of Ir(III) complex-based detection probes. © 2025 Elsevier B.V.

KW - Imaging

KW - Iridium(III) complex

KW - Mitochondria

KW - Photostability

KW - Sulfur dioxide

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U2 - 10.1016/j.saa.2025.126147

DO - 10.1016/j.saa.2025.126147

M3 - RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal

SN - 1386-1425

VL - 338

JO - Spectrochimica Acta - Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy

JF - Spectrochimica Acta - Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy

M1 - 126147

ER -

A photostable luminescent iridium(III) complex probe for imaging endogenous mitochondrial sulfur dioxide in living cells

Abstract

Funding

Research Keywords

UN SDGs

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