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pH is an important physiological parameter that plays a critical role in cellular and tissue homeostasis. Conventional small molecular pH sensors (e.g., fluorescein, Lysosensor) are limited by broad pH response and restricted fluorescent emissions. Previously, we reported the development of ultra-pH-sensitive (UPS) nanoprobes with sharp pH response using fluorophores with small Stokes shifts (50-fold between on and off states). The UPS library provides a useful toolkit to study pH regulation in many pathophysiological indications (e.g., cancer, lysosome catabolism) as well as establishing tumor-activatable systems for cancer imaging and drug delivery.
Ma et al. (Mon,) studied this question.