A BODIPY/Coumarin Hybrid Probe for Dual-Mode Fluorescent/FLIM Imaging of Endoplasmic Reticulum Micro-Polarity

Area of Science:

• Biochemistry
• Cell Biology
• Chemical Biology

Background:

• Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) micro-polarity is crucial for protein folding and lipid metabolism.
• Altered ER micro-polarity is linked to metabolic diseases and tumors, but monitoring it is challenging.
• Existing methods lack real-time spatial imaging and quantitative monitoring capabilities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design and validate a novel ER-targeted fluorescent probe for sensitive and quantitative monitoring of ER micro-polarity.
• To overcome limitations of existing probes, such as unstable signals and narrow response ranges.
• To investigate ER micro-polarity dynamics in physiological and pathological conditions.

Main Methods:

• Designed and synthesized MBDP, an ER-targeted probe by hybridizing coumarin and BODIPY fluorophores.
• Utilized dual-channel and lambda mode imaging for quantitative ER micro-polarity monitoring.
• Employed fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) for dual-modal monitoring.

Main Results:

• MBDP exhibits a broad linear response and strong anti-interference ability for accurate polarity sensing.
• The probe successfully captured ER micro-polarity changes under stress and regional differences in the hippocampus.
• MBDP demonstrated remarkable lifetime variations correlating with polarity changes, suitable for FLIM.

Conclusions:

• MBDP is a powerful tool for ratiometric imaging and FLIM dual-modal monitoring of ER micro-polarity.
• This probe facilitates the study of ER-related physiological and pathological mechanisms.
• MBDP aids in advancing research on metabolic diseases and tumors linked to ER dysfunction.