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Super-resolution imaging and real-time tracking lysosome in living cells by a fluorescent probe

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Abstract

Lysosomes function as important organelles within cells and their movement associates with diverse biological events, hence the real-time tracking of lysosomal movement is of great significance. However, since most lysosome fluorescent probes suffer from relatively unsatisfactory photostability, tracking lysosomal movement in real-time remains challenging. Here, we report that a naphthalimide-based fluorescent compound, namely NIMS, is a quite promising probe for lysosome imaging. The visualizing mechanism lies in the selective accumulation of NIMS in lysosomes via a protonation reaction, followed by the fluorescence enhancement due to the interactions of NIMS with proteins. Owing to its high selectivity and good photostability, NIMS was successfully applied to capture super-resolution fluorescence images of lysosomes. More importantly, real-time tracking of lysosome movement in a single living cell by NIMS was realized with a confocal laser scanning microscope. Surprisingly, even in normal culture conditions, around 2/3 of the captured lysosomes were observed to move within 5 min, indicative of the highly dynamic features of lysosomes. Thus, this probe may facilitate the understanding of the lysosome dynamics in physiological or pathological conditions.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Key Basic Research Program of China (2013CB933903) and National Natural Science Foundation of China (81621003, 21372168, 24672156, 51173117, 51573108).

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  1. These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Engineering Research Center for Biomaterials, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610064, China

    Wencheng Zhu & Hua Ai

  2. Key Laboratory of Green Chemistry and Technology, Ministry of Education; College of Chemistry, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610064, China

    Xujun Zheng, Yan Huang & Zhiyun Lu

  3. Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 200031, China

    Wencheng Zhu

Authors
  1. Wencheng Zhu
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  2. Xujun Zheng
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  3. Yan Huang
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  4. Zhiyun Lu
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  5. Hua Ai
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Correspondence to Zhiyun Lu or Hua Ai.

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Zhu, W., Zheng, X., Huang, Y. et al. Super-resolution imaging and real-time tracking lysosome in living cells by a fluorescent probe. Sci. China Chem. 61, 483–489 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11426-017-9194-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11426-017-9194-6

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