Combination of quinoxaline with pentamethinium system: Mitochondrial staining and targeting

Pentamethinium indolium salts are promising fluorescence probes and anticancer agents with high mitochondrial selectivity. We synthesized two indolium pentamethinium salts: a cyclic form with quinoxaline directly incorporated in the pentamethinium chain (cPMS) and an open form with quinoxaline substitution in the γ-position (oPMS). To better understand their properties, we studied their interaction with mitochondrial phospholipids (cardiolipin and phosphatidylcholine) by spectroscopic methods (UV-Vis, fluorescence, and NMR spectroscopy). Both compounds displayed significant affinity for cardiolipin and phosphatidylcholine, which was associated with a strong change in their UV-Vis spectra. Nevertheless, we surprisingly observed that fluorescence properties of cPMS changed in complex with both cardiolipin and phosphatidylcholine, whereas those of oPMS only changed in complex with cardiolipin. Both salts, especially cPMS, display high usability in mitochondrial imaging and are cytotoxic for cancer cells. The above clearly indicates that conjugates of pentamethinium and quinoxaline group, especially cPMS, represent promising structural motifs for designing mitochondrial-specific agents.