Rational Engineering of Precision-Tuned Fluoro-Photoacoustic Probe for Physiological-Level Glutathione Dynamics...

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Molecular Biology
• Cellular Imaging

Background:

• Glutathione (GSH) is a key antioxidant maintaining cellular redox balance.
• Existing GSH probes lack sensitivity to differentiate cell lines at physiological millimolar concentrations.
• Accurate monitoring of GSH dynamics is crucial for understanding cellular processes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel probe for precise monitoring of glutathione dynamics.
• To create a probe capable of distinguishing cell lines based on GSH levels.
• To evaluate the probe's performance in vitro and in vivo.

Main Methods:

• Developed a fluoro-photoacoustic (PA) probe (HDS-4) using a novel GSH trigger (2-furan formate).
• Utilized a near-infrared fluorescence (NIRF)/PA dual scaffold (HDS).
• Conducted in vitro cell line studies and in vivo imaging in mice.

Main Results:

• HDS-4 demonstrated high selectivity and accuracy for GSH detection at millimolar levels.
• HDS-4 successfully differentiated normal cells from tumor cells and among different tumor cell lines.
• In vivo PA and NIRF imaging confirmed HDS-4's ability to distinguish tumors in mice.

Conclusions:

• HDS-4 precisely monitors GSH dynamics at physiological concentrations.
• The probe distinguishes cell types based on differential GSH expression.
• HDS-4 is a promising tool for studying GSH in biological systems.