A Carborane-Containing Fluorophore as a Stain of Cellular Lipid Droplets

The use of fluorescent markers and probes greatly enhances biological investigations but relies on the provision of an array of fluorophores with diverse properties. Herein we report a novel carborane-containing coumarin, 5, which is sufficiently lipophilic to localise in cellular lipid droplets. In non-polar solvents which show comparable polarities to those of a lipid environment, compound 5 exhibits a fluorescence quantum yield two orders of magnitude greater than found in aqueous solvents, adding a further degree of selectivity to lipid droplet imaging. Compound 5 can stain lipid droplets in ex vivo adipocytes as well as in cultured cells, and can be utilised in flow cytometry as well as confocal microscopy.