Fluorescent dendrimer-based probes for cell membrane imaging: Zebrafish epidermal labeling-based toxicity evaluation

Area of Science:

• Biotechnology
• Materials Science
• Cell Biology

Background:

• Visualizing the plasma membrane of living cells is vital for understanding cellular activities.
• Current membrane staining dyes have limitations in imaging performance due to the plasma membrane's complex nature.
• Precise and stable plasma membrane imaging remains a significant technical challenge.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop novel dendrimer nanoprobes for high-performance plasma membrane imaging in live mammalian cells and organisms.
• To create versatile, long-term, and multicolor fluorescent probes for cellular and in vivo imaging.
• To evaluate the nanoprobes' utility as biosensors for assessing material toxicity.

Main Methods:

• Synthesized poly(ethylene glycol)-cholesterol (PEG-Chol)-conjugated and cyanine dye-labeled dendrimer nanoprobes.
• Utilized dendrimer nanoprobes for universal, wash-free, and long-term plasma membrane labeling of live mammalian cells.
• Applied DPC-Cy5 nanoprobes for high-quality, stable cell surface labeling of live zebrafish embryos and visualized metal-organic framework (MOF) toxicity.

Main Results:

• The developed nanoprobes enabled multicolor (green, yellow, red), wash-free, and long-term (≥8 hours) plasma membrane labeling of diverse live mammalian cells.
• Dendrimer nanoprobes demonstrated stable and high-quality cell surface labeling in live zebrafish embryos.
• The probes successfully visualized the toxicity of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) on zebrafish epidermal cells, acting as effective biosensors.

Conclusions:

• Dendrimer nanoprobes offer significant advantages for precise and stable plasma membrane imaging.
• These fluorescent nanoprobes are suitable for multicolor, long-term cell imaging and in vivo applications.
• The developed probes hold potential for drug toxicity evaluation and cellular state monitoring at the single-cell or live animal scale.