Donor–acceptor-linked molecules have been synthesized and utilized to induce the rapid and site-selective lipid-oxidation in mitochondria by utilizing a photoinduced intermolecular electron transfer reaction. Two water-soluble donor–acceptor molecules (1 and 2) were designed and synthesized for this purpose. 2 was prepared to modulate its affinity to cell membrane in mitochondria. Confocal laser microscopy experiments revealed that 1 and 2 possess high localization abilities in mitochondria. By the photoinduced electron transfer, 2 exhibited the remarkable oxidation ability of lipids, mainly cardiolipin. In HeLa cells, 2 triggered mitochondrial lipid oxidation, which was followed by apoptotic cell death, under illumination within a few seconds. These results show that the present molecular system is highly promising to utilize the photoinduced intermolecular electron transfer reaction in a precise spatiotemporal manner in a cell by using light.

中文翻译：

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供体/受体连接分子在线粒体中的光诱导电子转移反应对脂质的时空选择性光氧化

已经合成了供体-受体连接的分子，并利用光诱导的分子间电子转移反应来诱导线粒体中的快速和选择性脂质氧化。为此目的设计并合成了两个水溶性供体-受体分子（1和2）。制备2以调节其对线粒体中细胞膜的亲和力。共聚焦激光显微镜实验表明，1和2在线粒体中具有很高的定位能力。通过光诱导的电子转移，2表现出明显的脂质氧化能力，主要是心磷脂。在HeLa细胞中，2在几秒钟内在光照下触发线粒体脂质氧化，随后凋亡细胞死亡。这些结果表明，本分子系统非常有希望在细胞中通过使用光以精确的时空方式利用光诱导的分子间电子转移反应。