Fabrication of small-structure red-emissive fluorescent probes for plasma membrane enables quantification of nuclear to cytoplasmic ratio in live cells and tissues

Rui Yang, Qiuhua Hao, Qing Lu, Fangfang Meng, Jie Niu, Zhiqiang Liu*, Guangle Niu, Xiaoqiang Yu

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

4 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Nuclear to cytoplasmic ratio is one of the vital parameters in diagnosis of cancer by means of hematoxylin-eosin (HE) stained histopathology. However, HE histopathology dependent on mechanical tissue slice damages biosamples and exhibits insufficient accuracy. Herein, we rationally prepared two small-molecule plasma membrane fluorescent probes with red-emitting fluorescence for visualizing plasma membrane in living cells and tissues. Their fluorescence intensities are strongly affected by environmental viscosity, which enables the exclusive imaging of plasma membrane in high fidelity. The probes can visualize plasma membrane in SiHa and rat blood red cells. Particularly, the probes are able to visualize T-tubule (transverse tubule) in skeletal muscle tissues successfully, suggesting their ability to image plasma membrane in tissues. In cooperation with Hoechst 33342, the nuclear to cytoplasmic ratio was successfully qualified in live cells and tissues. We believe these probes may have potential applications in facilitating the study on histopathology and the related areas.

Original languageEnglish
Article number119338
JournalSpectrochimica Acta - Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy
Volume249
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 15 Mar 2021
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Nuclear to cytoplasmic ratio
  • Plasma membrane
  • Small-structure
  • T-tubule
  • Tissue imaging

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Yang, R., Hao, Q., Lu, Q., Meng, F., Niu, J., Liu, Z., Niu, G., & Yu, X. (2021). Fabrication of small-structure red-emissive fluorescent probes for plasma membrane enables quantification of nuclear to cytoplasmic ratio in live cells and tissues. Spectrochimica Acta - Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy, 249, Article 119338. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.saa.2020.119338