Photostable and Orthogonal Solvatochromic Fluorophores for Simultaneous In Situ Quantification of Multiple Cellular Signaling Molecules

ACS Chem Biol. 2020 Jul 17;15(7):1913-1920. doi: 10.1021/acschembio.0c00241. Epub 2020 Jun 25.

Abstract

Ratiometric fluorescence sensors are powerful tools for direct quantification of diverse biological analytes. To overcome a shortage of solvatochromic fluorophores crucial for in situ ratiometric imaging of biological targets, we prepared and characterized a small library of modular fluorophores with diverse spectral properties. Among them, WCB and WCR showed excellent spectral properties, including high photostability, brightness, and solvatochromism, and are ideally suited for dual ratiometric imaging due to their spectral orthogonality. By conjugating WCB and WCR with protein-based lipid sensors, we were able to achieve robust simultaneous in situ quantitative imaging of two metabolically linked signaling lipids, phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate and phosphatidylinositol-3,4,5-trisphosphate in live cells. This study shows that any combination of signaling molecules can be simultaneously quantified in a spatiotemporally resolved manner by ratiometric imaging with finely tuned solvatochromic fluorophores.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Fluorenes / chemical synthesis
  • Fluorenes / chemistry*
  • Fluorescent Dyes / chemical synthesis
  • Fluorescent Dyes / chemistry*
  • Mice
  • NIH 3T3 Cells
  • Phosphatidylinositol Phosphates / analysis*
  • Small Molecule Libraries / chemical synthesis
  • Small Molecule Libraries / chemistry
  • Spectrometry, Fluorescence

Substances

  • Fluorenes
  • Fluorescent Dyes
  • Phosphatidylinositol Phosphates
  • Small Molecule Libraries
  • phosphatidylinositol 3,4,5-triphosphate