Visualizing mitochondria and mouse intestine with a fluorescent complex of a naphthalene-based dipolar dye and serum albumin

Jong Min An; Heejo Moon; Yejin Kim; Sangrim Kang; Youngseo Kim; Yuna Jung; Sungnam Park; Peter Verwilst; B. Moon Kim; Jae Seung Kang; Dokyoung Kim

doi:10.1039/D0TB01314E

Visualizing mitochondria and mouse intestine with a fluorescent complex of a naphthalene-based dipolar dye and serum albumin†

Jong Min An,‡^a Heejo Moon,‡^b Yejin Kim,‡^cd Sangrim Kang,^e Youngseo Kim,^f Yuna Jung,^a Sungnam Park,

^f Peter Verwilst,*^g B. Moon Kim,

*^b Jae Seung Kang*^cd and Dokyoung Kim

*^aehi

Author affiliations

* Corresponding authors

^a Department of Biomedical Science, Graduate School, Kyung Hee University, Seoul 02447, Republic of Korea
E-mail: dkim@khu.ac.kr

^b Department of Chemistry, College of Natural Science, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea
E-mail: kimbm@snu.ac.kr

^c Laboratory of Vitamin C and Antioxidant Immunology, Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Seoul National University, College of Medicine, Seoul 03080, Republic of Korea
E-mail: genius29@snu.ac.kr

^d Institute of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Seoul National University Medical Research Center, Seoul 03080, Republic of Korea

^e Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, College of Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Seoul 02447, Republic of Korea

^f Department of Chemistry, Korea University, Seoul 02841, Republic of Korea

^g KU Leuven, Rega Institute of Medical Research, Medicinal Chemistry, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
E-mail: peter.verwilst@kuleuven.be

^h Center for Converging Humanities, Kyung Hee University, Seoul 02447, Republic of Korea

ⁱ Medical Research Center for Bioreaction to Reactive Oxygen Species and Biomedical Science Institute, School of Medicine, Graduate School, Kyung Hee University, Seoul 02447, Republic of Korea

Abstract

We have explored a new research field of fluorophores through the manipulation of fluorophore-binding proteins. The development of a new imaging agent for tracing a specific organelle or a particular site within a living organism has been of great interest in the field of basic science as well as translational medicine. In this work and for the first time, we will disclose a new naphthalene-based dipolar dye and its complex, with serum albumin (SA), and show their applicability for the selective imaging of mitochondria in cells and the intestine in a mouse. The SA-binding dipolar dye, IPNHC, was synthesized straightforwardly, and we identified its photophysical properties and binding mode with SA. IPNHC–SA complex showed a bright emission in the blue wavelength range with a high quantum yield and stability. In the fluorescence imaging study, bright fluorescence images of mouse intestines were observed under a UV light, as well as two-photon (TP) deep tissue imaging after intravenous injection of IPNHC and IPNHC–SA complex. The present findings hold great promise for the application of the fluorescent complex for use in the tracing and tracking of intestine-related diseases at clinical sites.

This article is part of the themed collections: 2020 Journal of Materials Chemistry B most popular articles, Journal of Materials Chemistry B Lunar New Year collection 2021 and Journal of Materials Chemistry B HOT Papers

Journal of Materials Chemistry B

Visualizing mitochondria and mouse intestine with a fluorescent complex of a naphthalene-based dipolar dye and serum albumin†

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Visualizing mitochondria and mouse intestine with a fluorescent complex of a naphthalene-based dipolar dye and serum albumin

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