Engineering an activatable fluorescent probe for studying ONOO in pyroptotic process.

Pyroptosis, a recently discovered form of programmed cell death, plays a pivotal role in oncological treatment. Howbeit, the mechanisms underlying pyroptosis in tumor treatment remain unclear. Previous research has demonstrated that the occurrence of pyroptosis generally accompanies a surge of reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, with ONOO being one of these ROS and closely linked to numerous diseases. Therefore, it is imperative to investigate the potential association between ONOO and pyroptosis. Herein, a highly sensitive and rapidly responsive near-infrared (NIR) probe, Rd700-PN, is fabricated for exploring unrevealed relationships between ONOO and pyroptosis. We successfully harness Rd700-PN to detect ONOO fluctuation during cellular pyroptosis for the first time. Furthermore, the results demonstrate that Rd700-PN can scout the chemotherapeutic drug's induction ability of tumor pyroptosis in vivo. Notably, this study provides an excellent means to shed light on the correlation between ONOO and pyroptosis and to screen antitumor drugs activating pyroptosis.