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Published on: March 24, 2014
Imaging Lysosomal pH Alteration in Stressed Cells with a Sensitive Ratiometric Fluorescence Sensor
Zhongwei Xue1, Hu Zhao1, Jian Liu1
1Department of Chemical Biology, ‡College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, §State Key Laboratory for Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, ∥The Key Laboratory for Chemical Biology of Fujian Province, ⊥The MOE Key Laboratory of Spectrochemical Analysis & Instrumentation, ¶Innovation Center for Cell Signaling Network, ▽State Key Laboratory of Cellular Stress Biology, and ■School of Life Sciences, Xiamen University , Xiamen, 361005, China.
Abstract:
The organelle-specific pH is crucial for cell homeostasis. Aberrant pH of lysosomes has been manifested in myriad diseases. To probe lysosome responses to cell stress, we herein report the detection of lysosomal pH changes with a dual colored probe (CM-ROX), featuring a coumarin domain with "always-on" blue fluorescence and a rhodamine-lactam domain activatable to lysosomal acidity to give red fluorescence. With sensitive ratiometric signals upon subtle pH changes, CM-ROX enables discernment of lysosomal pH changes in cells undergoing autophagy, cell death, and viral infection.
