Visualizing Dynamic Performance of Lipid Droplets in a Parkinson's Disease Model via a Smart Photostable Aggregation-Induced Emission Probe

Lihua Li; Fan Zhou; Qun Gao; Yao Lu; Xingyi Xu; Rong Hu; Zhiming Wang; Mingying Peng; Zhongmin Yang; Ben Zhong Tang

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2019.10.027

Visualizing Dynamic Performance of Lipid Droplets in a Parkinson's Disease Model via a Smart Photostable Aggregation-Induced Emission Probe

iScience. 2019 Nov 22:21:261-272. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2019.10.027. Epub 2019 Oct 18.

Authors

Lihua Li¹, Fan Zhou¹, Qun Gao², Yao Lu³, Xingyi Xu¹, Rong Hu¹, Zhiming Wang⁴, Mingying Peng⁵, Zhongmin Yang⁶, Ben Zhong Tang⁷

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices, Applied Techniques School of Materials Science and Engineering and Center for Aggregation-Induced Emission, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Fiber Laser Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, School of Physics, South China University of Technology, 381 Wushan Road, Guangzhou 510640, China.
² Department of Neurosurgery, Beijing Hospital, National Center of Gerontology, Graduate School of Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100005, China.
³ Department of Orthopedics, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, 253 Gongye Road, Guangzhou 510282, China.
⁴ State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices, Applied Techniques School of Materials Science and Engineering and Center for Aggregation-Induced Emission, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Fiber Laser Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, School of Physics, South China University of Technology, 381 Wushan Road, Guangzhou 510640, China. Electronic address: wangzhiming@scut.edu.cn.
⁵ State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices, Applied Techniques School of Materials Science and Engineering and Center for Aggregation-Induced Emission, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Fiber Laser Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, School of Physics, South China University of Technology, 381 Wushan Road, Guangzhou 510640, China. Electronic address: pengmingying@scut.edu.cn.
⁶ State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices, Applied Techniques School of Materials Science and Engineering and Center for Aggregation-Induced Emission, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Fiber Laser Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, School of Physics, South China University of Technology, 381 Wushan Road, Guangzhou 510640, China. Electronic address: yangzm@scut.edu.cn.
⁷ State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices, Applied Techniques School of Materials Science and Engineering and Center for Aggregation-Induced Emission, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Fiber Laser Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, School of Physics, South China University of Technology, 381 Wushan Road, Guangzhou 510640, China; Department of Chemistry and Hong Kong Branch of Chinese National Engineering Research Center for Tissue Restoration and Reconstruction, The Hong Kong University of Science & Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China. Electronic address: tangbenz@ust.hk.

Abstract

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a complex neurodegenerative disease affected by diverse factors, and lipid droplets (LDs) are increasingly recognized as major players in PD because of their relevance to neuron activity. However, long-term dynamic changes of LDs and their relative activity remain unclear. Here, an aggregation-induced emission (AIE) probe named 2-DPAN was prepared and employed to visualize dynamic processes of LDs in a 6-hydroxydopamine model of PD for the first time, and LDs' accumulation-peak/plateau-decrease were confirmed. We further found a close relationship between LDs and variation in mitochondrial activity. Strikingly, the progression of cell death was accelerated by lipase, whereas pre-stimulation of LDs by unsaturated fatty acid-oleic acid decreased the death process by inhibiting excessive reactive oxygen species (ROS) and fatty acid production, thereby protecting mitochondria. The utilization of 2-DPAN demonstrates the importance of LDs in neuronal homeostasis, and effective tuning of LDs may prevent or inhibit PD progression.

Keywords: Chemical Synthesis; Disease; Materials Design.