College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Collaborative Innovation Center of Functionalized Probes for Chemical Imaging in Universities of Shandong, Key Laboratory of Molecular and Nano Probes, Ministry of Education, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, 250014, P.R. China.
Anal Chem. 2015 Jun 16;87(12):6057-63. doi: 10.1021/acs.analchem.5b00571. Epub 2015 May 22.
Considering the important functions of cellular Na(+) and K(+) together with their cooperative efforts on various biological processes, it is significant to simultaneously detect Na(+) and K(+) at a single-cell level. Here, we present a novel method to discriminate and quantify simultaneously Na(+) and K(+) in single cells using a new near-infrared fluorescent probe associated with microchip electrophoresis. The fluorescent probe selectively responds to both Na(+) and K(+). The microchip electrophoresis allows accurate single-cell manipulation and effective distinction of Na(+) and K(+). Based on the method, the concentration of Na(+) and K(+) in single normal and cancer cells was compared, and the variation of Na(+) and K(+) in single cancer cells during the early stage of apoptotic volume decrease was monitored, which would help us to better understand the critical roles of Na(+) and K(+) in malignant cells and apoptosis. This method has paved a new way for the research of the synergistic function of Na(+) and K(+) in the regulation of various biological processes at a single-cell level.
考虑到细胞内 Na(+)和 K(+)的重要功能以及它们在各种生物过程中的协同作用，同时在单细胞水平上检测 Na(+)和 K(+)具有重要意义。在这里，我们提出了一种使用新的近红外荧光探针与微芯片电泳相结合来区分和定量同时检测单细胞内 Na(+)和 K(+)的新方法。该荧光探针对 Na(+)和 K(+)都有选择性响应。微芯片电泳允许对单个细胞进行精确操作，并有效地区分 Na(+)和 K(+)。基于该方法，比较了单个正常细胞和癌细胞中 Na(+)和 K(+)的浓度，并监测了单个癌细胞在早期凋亡体积减少过程中 Na(+)和 K(+)的变化，这将有助于我们更好地理解 Na(+)和 K(+)在恶性细胞和细胞凋亡中的关键作用。该方法为研究 Na(+)和 K(+)在调节各种生物过程中的协同作用开辟了新途径。
