Near-infrared emissive cyanine probes for selective visualization of the physiological and pathophysiological modulation of albumin levels

Advancements in Small Molecule Fluorescent Probes for Superoxide Anion Detection: A Review

Superoxide anion (O2•-), a significant reactive oxygen species (ROS) within biological systems, plays a widespread role in cellular function regulation and is closely linked to the onset and progression of numerous diseases. To unveil the pathological implications of O2•- in these diseases, the development of effective monitoring techniques within biological systems is imperative. Small molecule fluorescent probes have garnered considerable attention due to their advantages: simplicity in operation, heightened sensitivity, exceptional selectivity, and direct applicability in monitoring living cells, tissues, and animals. In the past few years, few reports have focused on small molecule fluorescence probes for the detection of O2•-. In this small review, we systematically summarize the design and application of O2•- responsive small molecule fluorescent probes. In addition, we present the limitations of the current detection of O2•- and suggest the construction of new fluorescent imaging probes to indicate O2•- in living cells and in vivo.

Molecular probe to visualize the effect of a glycolytic inhibitor on reducing NADH levels in a cellular system

The reduced form of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, commonly known as NADH, is an essential coenzyme existing in living organisms. Due to its involvement in various biological process, fluorescence imaging of intracellular NADH levels in different pathological conditions has emerged as an interesting area of research. We report here the exploration of a fluorescent probe, MQ-CN-BTZ, as a dual-channel NADH imaging agent (green and red channels) for cellular systems. Interestingly, depending on the ratio between the probe and NADH concentration in the solution phase, the probe showed emission at ∼529 nm and ∼656 nm when excited at 475 nm. It should be noted that the probe showed a very large Stokes shift of ∼180 nm with respect to the longer-wavelength emission with a good fluorescence response towards NADH. In general, such a large Stokes shift is highly beneficial for imaging applications, largely due to the better separation between the emission and excitation spectra and reduced spectral overlap. Finally, the probe was utilized to image a glycolysis pathway event by employing 3-bromopyruvic acid (3-BrPA) as a glycolytic inhibitor that significantly inhibits the activity of the enzyme glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH), which is involved in a crucial step of glycolysis. As the depletion of the NADH levels corresponds to the inactivity of GADPH upon treatment with the inhibitor, we attempted to image the modulation of the NADH concentration in the cellular system in the presence of the inhibitor 3-BrPA, indicating the importance of the glycolysis step in elevating NADH levels. Overall, the present study attempts to demonstrate the importance of a molecular probe for fluorescence imaging of intracellular NADH in the presence of a glycolytic inhibitor.

NIR-I emissive cyanine derived molecular probe for selective monitoring of hepatic albumin levels during hyperglycemia

In this study, we report a small molecule optical marker BI-CyG derived from the structural engineering of a cyanine scaffold. The developed probe offers suitable advantages over existing cyanine-based albumin specific probes in terms of its excitation and emission wavelengths, which are 760 and 830-832 nm, respectively. Structural tuning of the cyanine architecture leading to extended π-conjugation and resulting in a suitable bathochromic shift in the emission wavelength of the probe is represented in this study. The probe besides emitting in the NIR region, also possesses the desirable characteristics of being a potential target selective optical marker, as established from various biophysical studies. Molecular modelling and simulation studies provided critical insights into the binding of the probe in the protein microenvironment, which was further supported by experimental studies. The probe displayed intracellular albumin selectivity and was utilized for demonstrating alteration in albumin levels in pathological states such as hyperglycemia in hepatic cells. The present study also sheds some light on using BI-CyG as an imaging probe and on the role of metformin as a suitable drug for balancing hyperglycemia-induced reduced intra-hepatic albumin levels. The study, thus, attempts to highlight the structural derivatization of cyanine to afford a potential probe for serum albumin and its deployment to image altering albumin levels in an induced pathological condition, hyperglycemia.

Differentiation of HSA and BSA and Instantaneous Detection of HSO3 - Using Confined Space of Serum Albumins and Live Cell Imaging of Exogenous/Endogenous HSO3. ACS OMEGA 2023;8:2639-2647. [PMID: 36687064 PMCID: PMC9851030 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.2c07163] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0]

The limitations of prevailing probes for the detection of human serum albumin (HSA) and HSO3 - make it challenging to apprehend the cooperative effect of both HSA and HSO3 - in biological systems. Herein, we present a multi-responsive fluorescent probe MGTP, which distinguishes HSA from bovine serum albumin (BSA) through an ∼104-fold fluorescence enhancement at an emission maximum of 595 nm with HSA and only an ∼10-fold increase at an emission maximum of 615 nm with a shoulder at 680 nm with BSA. The absorbance spectrum of MGTP also discriminates HSA and BSA with the respective absorption maxima at 543 nm and at 580 nm. MGTP in the confined space of HSA or BSA undergoes instantaneous conjugate addition of HSO3 - and results in a ratiometric change in fluorescence intensity with diminishing of red fluorescence (600 nm) and emergence of green fluorescence (515 nm). MGTP in the absence of SAs does not react with HSO3 - in phosphate-buffered saline buffer and reacts sluggishly in the dimethyl sulfoxide-water 1:1 mixture. The limit of detection values for the detection of HSA and HSO3 - are 4 and 6.88 nM, respectively. The drug binding studies reveal that MGTP preferably confines itself at the bilirubin site of HSA. In MCF-7 cancer cells, MGTP is localized into mitochondria and reveals both exogenous and endogenous visualization of HSO3 - through a change in fluorescence from the red to green channel.