In vivo spectroscopic properties of the fluorescent pH indicator biscarboxyethyl carboxyfluorescein

TPL-2 kinase induces phagosome acidification to promote macrophage killing of bacteria

Tumour progression locus 2 (TPL‐2) kinase mediates Toll‐like receptor (TLR) activation of ERK1/2 and p38α MAP kinases in myeloid cells to modulate expression of key cytokines in innate immunity. This study identified a novel MAP kinase‐independent regulatory function for TPL‐2 in phagosome maturation, an essential process for killing of phagocytosed microbes. TPL‐2 catalytic activity was demonstrated to induce phagosome acidification and proteolysis in primary mouse and human macrophages following uptake of latex beads. Quantitative proteomics revealed that blocking TPL‐2 catalytic activity significantly altered the protein composition of phagosomes, particularly reducing the abundance of V‐ATPase proton pump subunits. Furthermore, TPL‐2 stimulated the phosphorylation of DMXL1, a regulator of V‐ATPases, to induce V‐ATPase assembly and phagosome acidification. Consistent with these results, TPL‐2 catalytic activity was required for phagosome acidification and the efficient killing of Staphylococcus aureus and Citrobacter rodentium following phagocytic uptake by macrophages. TPL‐2 therefore controls innate immune responses of macrophages to bacteria via V‐ATPase induction of phagosome maturation.

Application of fluorescence lifetime imaging of enhanced green fluorescent protein to intracellular pH measurements

We have shown that the intracellular pH of a single HeLa cell expressing the enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) can be imaged using the fluorescence lifetime of EGFP, which can be interpreted in terms of the pH-dependent ionic equilibrium of the p-hydroxybenzylidene-imidazolidinone structure of the chromophore of EGFP.

Biosorption effects of copper ions on Candida utilis under negative pressure cavitation

Under the optimal condition of copper ions adsorption on yeast,we found some different effects among static adsorption, shaking adsorption and negative pressure cavitation adsorption, and the methods of yeast with different pretreatments also affect adsorption of copper ions. At the same time, the change of intercellular pH before and after adsorption of copper with BCECF was studied. The copper distribution was located by using PhenGreen (dipotassium salt and diacetate), and the surface of yeast was observed by an atomic force microscope. The results showed that negative pressure cavitation can improve bioadsorption capacity of copper ions on yeast. However, the yeasts' pretreatment has a higher effect on bioadsorption. It indicates that heavy metal bioadsorption on yeast has much relation with its cellular molecule basis. With the adsorping, the intercellular pH of yeast increased gradually and changed from acidity to alkalescence. These results may suggest that negative pressure cavitation can compel heavy metals to transfer from the cell surface into inside cell and make the surface of yeast coarse.

Nitroxides with two pK values—useful spin probes for pH monitoring within a broad range

A series of 4-dialkylamino-2,5-dihydroimidazole nitroxides with pyridine-4-yl, 4-dimethylaminophenyl or 4-hydroxyphenyl groups in position 2 of the imidazole ring were prepared using the reaction of RMgBr with corresponding 5-dialkylamino-4,4-dimethyl-4H-imidazole 3-oxides. The EPR spectra of the nitroxides were shown to be pH-sensitive due to consecutive protonation of the amidino moiety and the basic group(s) at position 2 of the imidazole ring. The 5,5-dimethyl-4-(dimethylamino)-2-ethyl-2-pyridine-4-yl-2,5-dihydro-1H-imidazol-1-oxyl showed a monotonic increase in the isotropic nitrogen hyperfine (hfi) coupling constant alpha(N) of 1 .4 G over a pH range from 2 to 6.5. Such a broad range of pH-sensitivity could be useful for many biophysical and biomedical applications, including pH-monitoring in the stomach.

Continuous pH monitoring in a perfused bioreactor system using an optical pH sensor

Monitoring and regulating the pH of the solution in a bioprocess is one of the key steps in the success of bioreactor operation. An in-line optical pH sensor, based on the optical absorption properties of phenol red present in the medium, was developed and tested in this work for use in NASA space bioreactors based on a rotating wall-perfused vessel system supporting a baby hamster kidney (BHK-21) cell culture. The sensor was tested over three 30-day and one 124-day cell runs. The pH sensor initially was calibrated and then used during the entire cell culture interval. The pH reported by the sensor was compared to that measured by a fiber optically coupled Shimadzu spectrophotometer and a blood gas analyzer. The maximum standard error of prediction for all the four cell runs for development pH sensor against BGA was +/-0.06 pH unit and for the fiber optically coupled Shimadzu spectrophotometer against the blood gas analyzer was +/-0.05 pH unit. The pH sensor system performed well without need of recalibration for 124 days.

2',7'-bis-(2-carboxyethyl)-5(6)-carboxyfluorescein as a dual-emission fluorescent indicator of intracellular pH suitable for argon laser confocal microscopy

The widely used fluorescent probe 2',7'-bis-(2-carboxyethyl)-5(6)-carboxyfluorescein (BCECF) serves as a pH-sensitive indicator in classical microscopy. Characteristics of BCECF were studied and a way of employing the probe in a confocal laser scanning microscope equipped with an argon laser at 488 nm was developed, based on the fact that the emission fluorescence spectra are pH-dependent with spectral maximum shift from 518 to 529 nm. Optical filters for the dual-emission ratio method were set to 506 and 529 nm. pH values measured inside a single cell of Saccharomyces cerevisiae were similar to those obtained with other pH estimation methods.

Fluorescent characteristics and pharmacokinetic profiles of the fluorescent probe BCECF in various tissues: the role of blood content

The purpose of this study was to investigate the in vitro and in vivo spectral characteristics of the fluorescent pH-sensitive probe bis-carboxyethylcarboxyfluorescein (BCECF) in different tissues and its fluorescence kinetics profiles. The in vivo study was performed on anesthetized adult Wistar rats. After intravenous administration (4.8 mg/kg), fluorescence spectra were recorded on the following tissues: skin, an isolated blood vessel and liver. Measurements performed in vitro on blood samples show modifications of the BCECF emission spectrum with a blue-shift (10 nm) and a low fluorescence emission. Blood content greatly influences the pH measurement by increasing the I(490 exc., 530 em.)/I(470 exc., 530 em.) Fluorescence ratio value (ratio of the fluorescence intensities at 530 nm following excitation at 470 nm and 490 nm) when the hematocrit is high. A 0.35 ratio difference is observed between a BCECF-buffered solution and blood samples of 44% hematocrit. The emission spectra recorded on the skin are quite similar to the emission spectrum of BCECF in aqueous solution and are consistent with an extravascular localization of the dye a few minutes after injection. On the contrary, spectra recorded on the blood vessel and the liver are more similar than those recorded in vitro on high hematocrit solutions. Kinetic profiles in skin, liver and isolated blood vessels compared to the clearance obtained by blood sampling provide information about tissue perfusion. Then the variation of in vivo spectra in different tissues may be taken into account to measure tissue pH with special regard to the blood content of the illuminated area and the time range in which the measurement is performed.