Biomimetic lipid-fluorescein probe for cellular bioimaging

Hyungkyu Moon; Tania Sultana; JeongIk Lee; Jungrim Huh; Hae Dong Lee; Myung-Seok Choi

doi:10.3389/fchem.2023.1151526

Biomimetic lipid-fluorescein probe for cellular bioimaging

Front Chem. 2023 Apr 21:11:1151526. doi: 10.3389/fchem.2023.1151526. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Hyungkyu Moon¹, Tania Sultana², JeongIk Lee³, Jungrim Huh⁴, Hae Dong Lee¹, Myung-Seok Choi¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Materials Chemistry and Engineering, Konkuk University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
² Regenerative Medicine Laboratory, Center for Stem Cell Research, Department of Biomedical Science and Technology, Institute of Biomedical Science and Technology, Konkuk University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
³ Department of Veterinary Obstetrics and Theriogenology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Konkuk University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
⁴ Social Eco-Tech Research Institute, Konkuk University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.

Abstract

Fluorescence probe is one of the most powerful tools for cellular imaging. Here, three phospholipid-mimicking fluorescent probes (FP1-FP3) comprising fluorescein and two lipophilic groups of saturated and/or unsaturated C18 fatty acids were synthesized, and their optical properties were investigated. Like in biological phospholipids, the fluorescein group acts as a hydrophilic polar headgroup and the lipid groups act as hydrophobic non-polar tail groups. Laser confocal microscope images illustrated that FP3, which contains both saturated and unsaturated lipid tails, showed great uptake into the canine adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells.

Keywords: bioimaging; biomimetic; fluorescein; fluorescent probe; phospholipid.

Grants and funding

This work was financially supported by the Technology Innovation Program (20015254 and 20010034) by the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy (MOTIE, Korea) and the LCA Experts Training Graduate Program for Knowledge-based Environmental Service, from the Ministry of Environment, Korea.