A Golgi-targeted fluorescent probe for monitoring polarity dynamic during programmed cell death

Programmed cell death (PCD) is a controlled form of cell death and it plays an essential role in maintaining homeostasis. Golgi apparatus works as the hotspot during the early event of PCD and Golgi polarity, a vital microenvironment factor, can be regarded as an indicator of physiological status. Combined Golgi-targeted group phenylsulfonamide as electron acceptor group and triphenylamine as electron donor group, a novel Golgi-targeted fluorescent probe GTO had been developed. GTO showed good sensitivity and selectivity to polarity and its remarkable photostability makes it potentially useful for long-term cellular monitoring. In practice, GTO demonstrated good cell permeability and Golgi targeting capabilities. According to our results, GTO was applied to reveal the polarity increase during the early event of PCD and the encouraging results illustrated that GTO was an imaging tool for monitoring polarity in Golgi apparatus and the exploration in early diagnosis and drug discovery.