Mitochondrial NIR imaging probe mitigating oxidative damage by targeting HDAC6.

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Imaging
• Cell Biology
• Neuroscience

Background:

• Accurate assessment of mitochondrial function is crucial.
• Existing fluorescent probes often exhibit high cytotoxicity.
• There is a need for low-toxicity probes for reliable mitochondrial studies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel, low-cytotoxic near-infrared (NIR) fluorescent probe for mitochondria.
• To evaluate the probe's efficacy in targeting mitochondria and assessing cellular redox status.
• To investigate the probe's potential in protecting neuronal cells from oxidative stress.

Main Methods:

• Synthesis of a novel cyanine-based NIR fluorescent probe (T2).
• Assessment of probe's mitochondrial targeting specificity and cytotoxicity in vitro.
• Evaluation of T2's effect on oxidative stress-induced cell death in cortical neurons.
• Analysis of T2's mechanism involving intracellular redox status modulation.

Main Results:

• The novel probe T2 selectively targets mitochondria with significantly low cytotoxicity.
• T2 effectively modulates intracellular redox status.
• T2 demonstrates a protective effect against oxidative stress-induced cell death in cortical neurons.
• The probe's development offers new insights into regulating redox homeostasis for mitochondrial imaging.

Conclusions:

• A novel, low-cytotoxic cyanine-based NIR fluorescent probe (T2) has been developed for mitochondria.
• T2 shows promise for reliable mitochondrial function assessment and neuroprotection.
• This work highlights the potential of redox homeostasis regulation in designing advanced imaging agents.