Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 6, 2025
Ratiometric Biosensors that Measure Mitochondrial Redox State and ATP in Living Yeast Cells
Published on: July 22, 2013
programmably engineered FRET-nanoflare for ratiometric live-cell ATP imaging with anti-interference capability
Hongyu Wu1, Chengwen Zhang1, Fulin Zhu2
1State Key Laboratory of Organic Electronics and Information Displays & Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Biosensors, Institute of Advanced Materials (IAM), Jiangsu National Synergetic Innovation Center for Advanced Materials (SICAM), Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, 9 Wenyuan Road, Nanjing 210023, China. iamdzhu@njupt.edu.cn.
We developed a new FRET-nanoflare probe using poly-adenine (polyA) for improved intracellular ATP imaging. This probe offers enhanced signal and avoids false positives, showing promise for clinical diagnosis.
Area of Science:
- Biomedical Engineering
- Molecular Imaging
- Biochemistry
Background:
- Accurate intracellular adenosine triphosphate (ATP) detection is crucial for understanding cellular functions and diseases.
- Existing ATP imaging methods face challenges with signal enhancement and susceptibility to false-positive signals from probe degradation.
- Developing robust and sensitive probes for real-time ATP monitoring is an ongoing need in biological research and clinical diagnostics.
Purpose of the Study:
- To engineer a novel FRET-nanoflare probe for ratiometric intracellular ATP imaging.
- To enhance ATP signal response through programmable poly-adenine (polyA) attachment.
- To improve the anti-interference capability and reduce false-positive signals in complex biological environments.
Main Methods:
- Design and synthesis of a FRET-nanoflare probe incorporating a programmable polyA sequence.
- Utilizing Förster Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) principles for ratiometric signal generation.
- Testing the probe's performance in vitro and in simulated complex biological environments to assess signal enhancement and anti-interference.
Main Results:
- The polyA-mediated FRET-nanoflare demonstrated enhanced signal response for intracellular ATP.
- The probe exhibited significant anti-interference capability, effectively avoiding false-positive signals caused by probe degradation.
- Ratiometric imaging provided accurate and reliable ATP level measurements.
Conclusions:
- The developed polyA-mediated FRET-nanoflare is a promising tool for sensitive and specific intracellular ATP imaging.
- Its programmable nature and anti-interference capabilities make it suitable for complex biological samples.
- This technology holds significant potential for advancing clinical diagnosis and biomedical research.
