A blood-brain barrier-penetrating NIR fluorescent probe enables cross-model optical imaging of H₂O₂ in three neuroinflammation-related experimental mice models of brain injury.

Authors

Yuxun Lu, Wenyi He, Yinuo Li, Yingping Liu, Zhenhui Li, Ruqiu Zhang, Fanyi Kong, Fan Li, Ying Zhou

Published in

Analytica chimica acta. Volume 1424. Pages 346241. Nov 22, 2026. Epub Sep 09, 2026.

Abstract

Hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) is a key mediator of oxidative stress in neuroinflammation-related brain injury, yet brain H₂O₂ imaging remains challenging because of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and tissue autofluorescence. In addition, most reported probes have been evaluated in only one or a few disease models, limiting cross-model comparison. Here, we developed MH-1, an H₂O₂-responsive near-infrared (NIR) fluorescent probe for brain-section optical mapping after systemic administration.
MH-1 exhibited an approximately 60-fold fluorescence turn-on at 667 nm, enabled H₂O₂ detection over 0.107-1000 μmol/L, and reached a stable response within approximately 30 min, with high selectivity, interference resistance, pH stability, and low cytotoxicity. Its fluorescence quantum yield increased from 0.72% to 2.45% upon activation. CD31 co-staining confirmed MH-1-associated fluorescence in extravascular brain parenchyma after systemic administration. Ex vivo brain-section imaging further revealed model-dependent H₂O₂-associated fluorescence in LPS-induced neonatal neuroinflammation, hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), and Alzheimer's disease (AD), with an effective imaging window of approximately 12 h.
Rather than relying on a single best-in-class analytical parameter, MH-1 integrates NIR emission, a large fluorescence turn-on, BBB access, and applicability across three mechanistically distinct brain-injury models. This combined performance enables region-resolved, cross-model comparison of H₂O₂-associated oxidative stress in preclinical brain tissue.

PMID:
42887984
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 17 Oct 2026.

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