Bioluminescence Imaging of Selenocysteine in Vivo with a Highly Sensitive Probe

Abstract

Selenocysteine (Sec), a vital member of reactive selenium species, is closely implicated in diverse pathophysiological states, including cancer, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, neurodegenerative diseases, and male infertility. Monitoring Sec in vivo is of significant interest for understanding the physiological roles of Sec and the mechanisms of human diseases associated with abnormal levels of Sec. However, no bioluminescence probe for real-time monitoring of Sec in vivo has been reported. Herein, we present a novel bioluminescent probe BF-1 as an effective tool for the determination of Sec in living cells and in vivo for the first time. BF-1 has advantages of high sensitivity (a detection limit of 8 nM), remarkable bioluminescence enhancement (580fold), reasonable selectivity, low cytotoxicity, and high signal-to-noise ratio imaging feasibility of Sec in living cells and mice. More importantly, BF-1 affords high sensitivity for monitoring Sec stimulated by Na 2 SeO 3 in tumor-bearing mice. These results demonstrate that our new probe could serve as a powerful tool to selectively monitor Sec in vivo, thus providing a valuable approach for exploring the physiological and pathological functions and anticancer mechanisms of selenium.

Discussions of Fluorescence in Selenium Chemistry: Recently Reported Probes, Particles, and a Clearer Biological Knowledge

“…Different timelengths were studied such as 1, 6, 12 h. Detection was made in vitro, in vivo, and intratumoral. Na 2 SeO 3 helps in inducing selenocysteine production in biology [94].…”

“…Different time-lengths were studied such as 1, 6, 12 h. Detection was made in vitro, in vivo, and intra-tumoral. Na2SeO3 helps in inducing selenocysteine production in biology [94]. The effect of selenenic acid was probed in living cells; the probe NapEb by Ungati et al which is a blue fluorescent naphthalamide version of Ebselen which undergoes reaction with H2O2 to give the selenic acid derivative (Figure 52).…”

Synthesis of Sulfonylhydrazone Type Probe with High Selectivity for Rapid Detection of Mercury and Its Application in Adsorption and HeLa Cell

“…[12][13][14][15][16][17] In recent years, the spectrometric method had attracted the attention of many researchers because of its high selectivity, sensitivity, simplicity and real-time usability. [18][19][20][21][22][23] Until now, many excellent works about Hg 2＋ sensors have been successfully obtained through different designing thoughts by the introduction of special functional groups to different optical matrixes, and have displayed impressive probing performance. [24][25][26][27] The main types of mercury ions probes are rhodamine, fluorescein, carbohydrate and naphthalimide compounds.…”

A Red Emissive Fluorescent Turn-on Sensor for the Rapid Detection of Selenocysteine and Its Application in Living Cells Imaging

“…Recently, several Sec fluorescent sensors including nanosensors were reported, using 2,4-dinitrophenyl ether, 2,4-dinitrobenzene sulfone amide, or 2,4-dinitrobenzene sulfonate ester as the reaction sites [ 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 ]. Among them, 2,4-dinitrobenzene sulfonate ester has a faster response time [ 19 ].…”

“…Among them, 2,4-dinitrobenzene sulfonate ester has a faster response time [ 19 ]. At the same time, based on luciferin, coumarin, hemicyanine, and xanthene dyes, many fluorescent sensors were developed to detect Sec [ 17 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 ]. In the design process, fluorescent sensors with long-wavelength emission are preferred to reduce phototoxicity and increase tissue penetration [ 12 , 18 ].…”