Turn-on Fluorescent Biosensors for Imaging Hypoxia-like Conditions in Living Cells

We present the synthesis, photophysical properties, and biological application of nontoxic 3-azo-conjugated BODIPY dyes as masked fluorescent biosensors of hypoxia-like conditions. The synthetic methodology is based on an operationally simple N=N bond-forming protocol, followed by a Suzuki coupling, that allows for a direct access to simple and underexplored 3-azo-substituted BODIPY. These dyes can turn on their emission properties under both chemical and biological reductive conditions, including bacterial and human azoreductases, which trigger the azo bond cleavage, leading to fluorescent 3-amino-BODIPY. We have also developed a practical enzymatic protocol, using an immobilized bacterial azoreductase that allows for the evaluation of these azo-based probes and can be used as a model for the less accessible and expensive human reductase NQO1. Quantum mechanical calculations uncover the restructuration of the topography of the S1 potential energy surface following the reduction of the azo moiety and rationalize the fluorescent quenching event through the mapping of an unprecedented pathway. Fluorescent microscopy experiments show that these azos can be used to visualize hypoxia-like conditions within living cellsThis article is dedicated to Professor M. Carmen Carreño on the occasion of her retirement. We thank MINECO (grant CTQ2017-85454-C2-2-P), MICINN (grant PID2020- 113059GB-C22), MCIU (grant PGC2018-094644-B-C21), the Ramón y Cajal Program (grant RYC-2016-20489), the Fundación La Caixa (grant no. LCF/BQ/DR19/11740024), and the Comunidad Autónoma de Madrid (B2017/BMD-3867 RENIMCM) and co-financed by the European Structural and investment fund for financial support. I.C. and F.R.-G. also acknowledge the Red Española de Supercomputación, the MareNostrum Supercomputer Center, and the Centro de Computación Científica of the UAM (CCC-UAM) for the generous allocation of computer time and for their technical support. We thank the “Servicio de Microscopía óptica y confocal CBMSO” facility for their assistance. We also thank Prof. M. C. Carreño for her advice and helpful discussions during the wor