Exploring BODIPY-Based Sensor for Imaging of Intracellular Microviscosity in Human Breast Cancer Cells

BODIPY-based molecular rotors are highly attractive imaging tools for imaging intracellular microviscosity in living cells. In our study, we investigated the ability to detect the microviscosity of biological objects by using BDP-NO and BDP-H molecular rotors. We describe in detail the optical prope...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of molecular sciences 2022-05, Vol.23 (10), p.5687
Main Authors: Jurgutis, Dziugas, Jarockyte, Greta, Poderys, Vilius, Dodonova-Vaitkuniene, Jelena, Tumkevicius, Sigitas, Vysniauskas, Aurimas, Rotomskis, Ricardas, Karabanovas, Vitalijus
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alzheimer's disease
Amino acids
Aqueous solutions
Breast cancer
Cells (biology)
Cytosol
Ethanol
fluorescence lifetime imaging
fluorescence spectroscopy
Imaging
Intracellular
Investigations
Lifetime
lipid droplets
Lipids
live cancer cells
Localization
Metastasis
microviscosity
molecular rotors
Nitrogen dioxide
Optical properties
Organelles
Proteins
Rotors
Solvents
Viscosity
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Summary:BODIPY-based molecular rotors are highly attractive imaging tools for imaging intracellular microviscosity in living cells. In our study, we investigated the ability to detect the microviscosity of biological objects by using BDP-NO and BDP-H molecular rotors. We describe in detail the optical properties of BDP-NO and BDP-H molecular rotors in aqueous media with and without proteins, together with their accumulation dynamics and localization in live and fixed human breast cancer cells. Furthermore, we investigate the applicability of these molecules to monitor microviscosity in the organelles of human breast cancer cells by fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM). We demonstrate that the BDP-NO molecular rotor aggregates in aqueous media and is incompatible with live cell imaging. The opposite effect is observed with BDP-H which preserves its stability in aqueous media, diffuses through the plasma membrane and accumulates in lipid droplets (LDs) and the cytosol of both live and fixed MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cancer cells. Finally, by utilizing BDP-H we demonstrate that LD microviscosity is significantly elevated in more malignant MDA-MB-231 human breast cancer cells, as compared to MCF-7 breast cancer cells. Our findings demonstrate that BDP-H is a water-compatible probe that can be successfully applied to measure microviscosity in the LDs of living cells.
ISSN:1422-0067
1661-6596
1422-0067
DOI:10.3390/ijms23105687