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Styryl-NIR Mitochondrial Probes with Rapid HOCl Detection in Live-Cells
Deeksha Rajput1, Paramasivam Mahalingavelar2, Virupakshi Soppina3
1Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar, Gandhinagar, 382055, Gujarat, India.
Chembiochem : a European Journal of Chemical Biology
|April 17, 2023
Summary
Researchers developed a novel fluorescent probe to selectively detect hypochlorous acid (HOCl) in mitochondria. This tool aids in studying HOCl's role in cellular processes and immune balance.
Area of Science:
- Biochemistry
- Cell Biology
- Chemical Biology
Background:
- Hypochlorous acid (HOCl) is vital for immune function but can damage mitochondria, impairing ATP production and causing cell death.
- Mitochondrial dysfunction is implicated in various pathologies, highlighting the need to understand HOCl's impact at the organelle level.
Purpose of the Study:
- To design and synthesize a pyridinium-based fluorophore for selective mitochondrial staining and HOCl detection.
- To investigate the photophysical properties and cellular localization of the designed fluorophore.
- To evaluate the fluorophore's efficacy in detecting exogenous and endogenous HOCl in live cells.
Main Methods:
- Synthesis of a novel pyridinium-based fluorophore.
- Solvatochromic emission studies and sub-cellular localization analysis.
- Detection of HOCl using the fluorophore, including selectivity assays and limit of detection determination.
- Exogenous and endogenous HOCl detection in live cells.
- Density Functional Theory (DFT) and Time-Dependent DFT (TD-DFT) calculations for structure-property relationship analysis.
Main Results:
- The designed fluorophore exhibits strong solvatochromic emission and excellent mitochondrial localization.
- It demonstrates rapid and selective detection of HOCl with a low detection limit (2.31 μM) among reactive oxygen/nitrogen species.
- The probe successfully detected HOCl in live cells, both exogenously and endogenously.
- DFT/TD-DFT calculations elucidated the probe's electronic properties and response mechanism to HOCl.
Conclusions:
- A novel pyridinium-based fluorophore has been successfully developed for selective mitochondrial imaging and HOCl sensing.
- This tool enables the study of HOCl's role in organelles at the cellular level, contributing to understanding its involvement in immune balance and cell death.
- The findings provide insights into the structure-property relationships of cationic probes for reactive species detection.
