| Institution: | 1. Center of Physical Sciences and Technology, Saulėtekio av. 3, Vilnius, LT, 10257 Lithuania;2. Institute of Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry and Geosciences, Vilnius University, Naugarduko str. 24, Vilnius, LT, 03225 Lithuania;3. Institute of Chemical Physics, Faculty of Physics, Vilnius University, Saulėtekio av. 9-III, Vilnius, LT, 10222 Lithuania;4. Biomedical Physics Laboratory, National Cancer Institute, P. Baublio str. 3b, Vilnius, LT, 08406 Lithuania;5. Biomedical Physics Laboratory, National Cancer Institute, P. Baublio str. 3b, Vilnius, LT, 08406 Lithuania
Department of Chemistry and Bioengineering, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, Saulėtekio av. 11, Vilnius, LT, 10223 Lithuania |
| Abstract: | Viscosity imaging at a microscopic scale can provide important information about biosystems, including the development of serious illnesses. Microviscosity imaging is achievable with viscosity-sensitive fluorophores, the most popular of which are based on the BODIPY group. However, most of the BODIPY probes fluoresce green light, whereas the red luminescence is desired for the imaging of biological samples. Designing a new viscosity probe with suitable spectroscopic properties is a challenging task because it is difficult to preserve viscosity sensitivity after modifying the molecular structure. Here we describe how we developed a new red-emitting, viscosity-sensitive, BODIPY fluorophore BP-PH-2M-NO2 that is suitable for reliable intracellular viscosity imaging of lipid droplets in MCF-7 breast cancer cells. The design of BP-PH-2M-NO2 was aided by DFT calculations that allowed a successful prediction of the viscosity sensitivity of fluorophores before synthesis. In summary, we report a new red viscosity probe possessing monoexponential fluorescence decay that makes it attractive for lifetime-based viscosity imaging. |
