Department of Chemistry, National Taiwan University, Taipei, 10617, Taiwan.
Department of Bioscience and Biotechnology, National Taiwan Ocean University, Keelung, 20224, Taiwan.
Biosens Bioelectron. 2022 Sep 1;211:114362. doi: 10.1016/j.bios.2022.114362. Epub 2022 May 16.
Monitoring of structural changes in subcellular organelles is critical to evaluate the chemotherapeutic response of cells. However, commercial organelle selective fluorophores are easily photobleached, and thus are unsuitable for real-time and long-term observation. We have developed photostable carbon-dot liposomes (CDsomes)-based fluorophores for organellar and suborganellar imaging to circumvent these issues. The CDs synthesized through a mild pyrolysis/hydrolysis process exhibit amphipathic nature and underwent self-assembly to form liposome-like structures (CDsomes). The controlled hydrophilicity or hydrophobicity-guided preparation of CDsomes are used to selectively and rapidly (<1 min) stain nucleolus, cytoplasm, and membrane. In addition, the CDsomes offer universal high-contrast staining not only in fixed cells but also in living cells, allowing real-time observation and morphological identification in the specimen. The as-prepared CDsomes exhibit excitation-dependent fluorescence, and are much more stable under photoirradiation (e.g., ultraviolet light) than traditional subcellular dyes. Interestingly, the CDsomes can be transferred to daughter cells by diluting the particles, enabling multigenerational tracking of suborganelle for up to six generations, without interrupting the staining pattern. Therefore, we believe that the ultra-photostable CDsomes with high biocompatibility, and long-term suborganellar imaging capabilities, hold a great potential for screening and evaluating therapeutic performance of various chemotherapeutic drugs.
监测亚细胞细胞器的结构变化对于评估细胞的化疗反应至关重要。然而，商业细胞器选择性荧光染料很容易发生光漂白，因此不适合实时和长期观察。我们开发了基于光稳定碳点脂质体（CDsomes）的荧光染料，用于细胞器和亚细胞器成像，以解决这些问题。通过温和的热解/水解过程合成的 CDs 具有两亲性，并自组装形成类似脂质体的结构（CDsomes）。通过控制亲水性或疏水性来制备 CDsomes，可用于选择性和快速（<1 分钟）染色核仁、细胞质和膜。此外，CDsomes 不仅在固定细胞中，而且在活细胞中提供通用的高对比度染色，允许在标本中进行实时观察和形态识别。所制备的 CDsomes 表现出激发依赖性荧光，并且在光照射（例如，紫外光）下比传统的亚细胞染料稳定得多。有趣的是，通过稀释颗粒，CDsomes 可以转移到子细胞中，从而能够对亚细胞器进行多达六代的多代跟踪，而不会中断染色模式。因此，我们相信，具有高生物相容性和长期亚细胞器成像能力的超稳定 CDsomes 在筛选和评估各种化疗药物的治疗性能方面具有巨大潜力。
