Theranostic Iridium(III) Complexes as One‐ and Two‐Photon Phosphorescent Trackers to Monitor Autophagic Lysosomes |
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| Authors: | Liang He Dr. Cai‐Ping Tan Rui‐Rong Ye Yi‐Zhi Zhao Ya‐Hong Liu Prof. Dr. Qiang Zhao Prof. Liang‐Nian Ji Prof. Dr. Zong‐Wan Mao |
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| Affiliation: | 1. MOE Key Laboratory of Bioinorganic and Synthetic Chemistry, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Sun Yat‐sen University, Guangzhou 510275 (P. R. China);2. Key Laboratory for Organic Electronics & Information Displays and Institute of Advanced Materials, Nanjing University of Posts & Telecommunications, 9 Wenyuan Road, Nanjing 210046 (P. R. China) |
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| Abstract: | During autophagy, the intracellular components are captured in autophagosomes and delivered to lysosomes for degradation and recycling. Changes in lysosomal trafficking and contents are key events in the regulation of autophagy, which has been implicated in many physiological and pathological processes. In this work, two iridium(III) complexes ( LysoIr1 and LysoIr2 ) are developed as theranostic agents to monitor autophagic lysosomes. These complexes display lysosome‐activated phosphorescence and can specifically label lysosomes with high photostability. Simultaneously, they can induce autophagy potently without initiating an apoptosis response. We demonstrate that LysoIr2 can effectively implement two functions, namely autophagy induction and lysosomal tracking, in the visualization of autophagosomal–lysosomal fusion. More importantly, they display strong two‐photon excited fluorescence (TPEF), which is favorable for live cell imaging and in vivo applications. |
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| Keywords: | autophagy bioinorganic chemistry iridium probe theranostic |
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