Rational Design of Novel Lipophilic Aggregation-Induced Emission Probes for Revealing the Dynamics of Lipid Droplets during Lipophagy and Ferroptosis

Abstract

Lipid droplets (LDs), as crucial organelles, play a significant role in some physiological processes. Monitoring the concentration of LDs and dynamic behaviors between LDs and other organelles during some physiological processes is important for studying their biological function and medical diagnosis. Herein, we report a series of aggregation-induced emission (AIE) probes AIE-Cbz-LD-C n (n = 1, 3, 5, 7, OMe) based on the conjugation of quinolinemalononitrile (QM) and carbazole for tracking the dynamic changes of LDs and studying the association between LDs and lysosome/ endoplasmic reticulum (ER). To our great delight, AIE-Cbz-LD-C 3 , AIE-Cbz-LD-C 5 , and AIE-Cbz-LD-C 7 could aggregate in LDs accurately and light up the LDs with good photostability. Among them, AIE-Cbz-LD-C 7 was used to visualize the interplay between LDs and lysosomes during lipophagy due to the excellent LD-specificity. We also succeeded in tracking the number of newborn LDs generated near the endoplasmic reticulum regions revealing that the number increased considerably during ferroptosis by using AIE-Cbz-LD-C 7 , which supplies useful evidence for the hypothesis that LDs generate from the ER. We expect the probe AIE-Cbz-LD-C 7 would be a practical tool for tracking the physiological and pathological processes contacted with LDs.

An iodide-containing covalent organic framework for enhanced radiotherapy

“…3A), including swelling, enlarged and vacuolated nuclei, and increased lipid droplet numbers, consistent with previous reports. [78][79][80] Cell viability assays further revealed that cell damage depended on the TDI-COF concentration and X-ray dose (Fig. 3B).…”

Visualization of the Ferroptosis in Atherosclerotic Plaques with Nanoprobe Engineered by Macrophage Cell Membranes

“…Most hydrophobic fluorophores are suitable for the design of LD probes, and coumarin structure units, similar to Nile red (a commercial LD dye), are also included . However, as shown in Scheme a, currently lipid-targeting probes with an ACQ effect and short wavelengths limited their biological application in vivo imaging. ,, Furthermore, the probe containing the quinoline malononitrile portion had typical AIE properties but lacked water solubility, which was not conducive to LD imaging (Scheme a) . Designing probes with AIE properties, good water solubility, and special targeting of LDs may be beneficial to monitor the process of ferroptosis during AS.…”

Efficient detection of bilirubin in human serum through a displacement approach

“…Therefore, this resulted in a small range of E T 30 values, for THF ( E T 30 37.4) to toluene ( E T 30 33.9), and showed the viability of the probe even in a narrow range. 28…”