High-Throughput Screening of Natural Products Alleviating Acute Liver Injury Using a Polarity-Responsive NIR...

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Chemical Biology
• Molecular Imaging

Background:

• Acute liver injury (ALI) lacks precise noninvasive early diagnostic tools.
• Traditional enzyme tests for ALI often produce false-positive results.
• Abnormal polarity fluctuations are implicated in ALI pathogenesis, requiring in vivo monitoring.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design a novel near-infrared ratiometric fluorescent probe for sensitive in vivo polarity detection.
• To enable accurate real-time imaging of polarity dynamics in live systems during ALI.
• To establish a new platform for early ALI diagnosis and drug screening.

Main Methods:

• Rational design of BDP-JL probe with D-π-A architecture for polarity sensing.
• Evaluation of vesicle-targeting capabilities and lipid droplet tracking.
• Assessment of photostability, cytotoxicity, and ratiometric signal output.
• In vivo imaging in live cells, zebrafish, and mice models.

Main Results:

• BDP-JL demonstrated high sensitivity for polarity detection with excellent vesicle-targeting ability.
• The probe enabled precise tracking of polarity dynamics within lipid droplets during ALI.
• Ratiometric output ensured accurate real-time imaging, free from background interference.
• BDP-JL successfully screened anti-inflammatory natural products.

Conclusions:

• BDP-JL serves as a robust noninvasive tool for dynamic polarity monitoring.
• The probe facilitates early diagnosis of acute liver injury.
• This technology supports high-throughput drug discovery for liver diseases.