Aggregation-induced bioprobe for plasma membrane-specific imaging and photodynamic cancer cell ablation

Yinchan Wang; Weihua Zhuang; Sisi Wu; Zhenyu Duan; Shufen Li; Jingruo Chen; Linsen Zhou; Yongjie Zhou; Chengming Li; Mao Chen

doi:10.1016/j.saa.2023.122486

Aggregation-induced bioprobe for plasma membrane-specific imaging and photodynamic cancer cell ablation

Spectrochim Acta A Mol Biomol Spectrosc. 2023 May 15:293:122486. doi: 10.1016/j.saa.2023.122486. Epub 2023 Feb 11.

Authors

Yinchan Wang¹, Weihua Zhuang², Sisi Wu¹, Zhenyu Duan³, Shufen Li², Jingruo Chen², Linsen Zhou⁴, Yongjie Zhou⁵, Chengming Li⁶, Mao Chen⁷

Affiliations

¹ Core Facility of West China Hospital, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, 37 Guoxue Alley, Chengdu 610041, PR China.
² Laboratory of Heart Valve Disease, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, 37 Guoxue Alley, Chengdu 610041, PR China.
³ Huaxi MR Research Center (HMRRC), Department of Radiology, Frontiers Science Center for Disease-Related Molecular Network, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, 37 Guoxue Alley, Chengdu 610041, PR China. Electronic address: duan.zhenyu@scu.edu.cn.
⁴ Institute of Materials, Chinese Academy of Engineering Physics, Jiangyou 621908, PR China.
⁵ Laboratory of Liver Transplantation, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, 37 Guoxue Alley, Chengdu 610041, PR China. Electronic address: yongjiezhou@scu.edu.cn.
⁶ Laboratory of Heart Valve Disease, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, 37 Guoxue Alley, Chengdu 610041, PR China. Electronic address: ChengmingLi@scu.edu.cn.
⁷ Laboratory of Heart Valve Disease, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, 37 Guoxue Alley, Chengdu 610041, PR China; Department of Cardiology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, 37 Guoxue Alley, Chengdu 610041, PR China. Electronic address: chenmao@scu.edu.cn.

PMID: 36801737
DOI: 10.1016/j.saa.2023.122486

Abstract

Selective labelling of the plasma membrane (PM) by fluorescence imaging techniques enables an intuitive analysis of cell status together with dynamic changes, and therefore is of great value. We herein disclose a novel carbazole-based probe, CPPPy, that shows aggregation-induced emission (AIE) property and is observed to selectively accumulate at the PM of living cells. Benefiting from its good biocompatibility and PM-targeted specificity, CPPPy can light up the PM of cells by high-resolution imaging even at a low concentration of 200 nM. Simultaneously, CPPPy is capable of generating both singlet oxygen and free radical-dominated species upon visible light irradiation, which further induces irreversible growth inhibition and necrocytosis of tumor cells. This study thus provides new insight into the construction of multifunctional fluorescence probes with PM-specific bioimaging and photodynamic therapy.

Keywords: Aggregation-induced emission; Bioimaging; Photodynamic therapy; Plasma membrane-specific.

MeSH terms

Cell Membrane
Light
Neoplasms* / drug therapy
Optical Imaging
Photochemotherapy* / methods
Photosensitizing Agents / pharmacology
Singlet Oxygen

Substances

Singlet Oxygen
Photosensitizing Agents