Chemically-activatable alkyne-tagged probe for imaging microdomains in lipid bilayer membranes

A chemically-activatable alkynyl steroid analogue probe has been synthesized for visualizing the lipid raft membrane domains by Raman microscopy. The Raman probe, in which ring A of its steroid backbone is replaced with an alkynyl group, was designed to enable activation of the alkyne signal through the Eschenmoser-Tanabe fragmentation reaction of the oxidized cholesterol precursor in lipid bilayer membranes. The alkynyl steroid analogue was observed to form liquid-ordered raft-like domains on a model giant-liposome system in a similar manner as cholesterol, and the large alkyne signal of the accumulated probe at 2120 cm^-1 was mapped on the microdomains with a Raman microscope. The alkyne moiety of the probe was confirmed to be converted from the α,β-epoxy ketone group of its precursor by reaction with p-toluensulfonyl hydrazine under a mild condition. Through the reaction, the alkyne signal of the probe was activated on the lipid bilayer membrane of liposomes. Furthermore, the signal activation of the probe was also detected on living cells by stimulated Raman scattering microscopy. The ring-A-opened alkyne steroid analogue, thus, provides a first chemically-activatable Raman probe as a promising tool for potentially unravelling the intracellular formation and trafficking of cholesterol-rich microdomains.