A novel water-soluble BODIPY dye as red fluorescent probe for imaging hypoxic status of human cancer cells

The development of effective methods for real-time monitoring of nitroreductase (NTR) activity is of great significance for medical diagnosis and cancer research. Here, we present a novel water-soluble BODIPY-based chemodosimeter (NBB) for imaging the hypoxic status of human non-small-cell lung cancer A549 cells. We assume that ‘on–off’ response of NBB is activated by the NTRmediated reductive release of meso-phenol BODIPY dye resulting in unusual fluorescence.