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Hu Y, Zhang RQ, Liu SL, Wang ZG. In-situ quantification of lipids in live cells through imaging approaches. Biosens Bioelectron 2023; 240:115649. [PMID: 37678059 DOI: 10.1016/j.bios.2023.115649] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/24/2023] [Revised: 08/03/2023] [Accepted: 08/29/2023] [Indexed: 09/09/2023]
Abstract
Lipids are important molecules that are widely distributed within the cell, and they play a crucial role in several biological processes such as cell membrane formation, signaling, cell motility and division. Monitoring the spatiotemporal dynamics of cellular lipids in real-time and quantifying their concentrations in situ is crucial since the local concentration of lipids initiates various signaling pathways that regulate cellular processes. In this review, we first introduced the historical background of lipid quantification methods. We then delve into the current state of the art of in situ lipid quantification, including the establishment and utility of fluorescence imaging techniques based on sensors of lipid-binding domains labeled with organic dyes or fluorescent proteins, and Raman and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques that do not require lipid labeling. Next, we highlighted the biological applications of live-cell lipid quantification techniques in the study of in situ lipid distribution, lipid transformation, and lipid-mediated signaling pathways. Finally, we discussed the technical challenges and prospects for the development of lipid quantification in live cells, with the aim of promoting the development of in situ lipid quantification in live cells, which may have a profound impact on the biological and medical fields.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yusi Hu
- State Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemical Biology, Frontiers Science Centre for New Organic Matter, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Biosensing and Molecular Recognition, Research Centre for Analytical Sciences, College of Chemistry and School of Medicine, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, China
| | - Rui-Qiao Zhang
- Qingdao Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Qingdao, 266100, China
| | - Shu-Lin Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemical Biology, Frontiers Science Centre for New Organic Matter, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Biosensing and Molecular Recognition, Research Centre for Analytical Sciences, College of Chemistry and School of Medicine, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, China.
| | - Zhi-Gang Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemical Biology, Frontiers Science Centre for New Organic Matter, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Biosensing and Molecular Recognition, Research Centre for Analytical Sciences, College of Chemistry and School of Medicine, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, China.
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Pham H, Singaram I, Sun J, Ralko A, Puckett M, Sharma A, Vrielink A, Cho W. Development of a novel spatiotemporal depletion system for cellular cholesterol. J Lipid Res 2022; 63:100178. [PMID: 35143844 PMCID: PMC8953671 DOI: 10.1016/j.jlr.2022.100178] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2022] [Revised: 02/03/2022] [Accepted: 02/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Cholesterol is an essential component of mammalian cell membranes whose subcellular concentration and function are tightly regulated by de novo biosynthesis, transport, and storage. Although recent reports have suggested diverse functions of cellular cholesterol in different subcellular membranes, systematic investigation of its site-specific roles has been hampered by the lack of a methodology for spatiotemporal manipulation of cellular cholesterol levels. Here, we report the development of a new cholesterol depletion system that allows for spatiotemporal manipulation of intracellular cholesterol levels. This system utilizes a genetically encoded cholesterol oxidase whose intrinsic membrane binding activity is engineered in such a way that its membrane targeting can be controlled in a spatiotemporally specific manner via chemically induced dimerization. In combination with in situ quantitative imaging of cholesterol and signaling activity measurements, this system allows for unambiguous determination of site-specific functions of cholesterol in different membranes, including the plasma membrane and the lysosomal membrane.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ha Pham
- Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Indira Singaram
- Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Jiachen Sun
- Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Arthur Ralko
- Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Madalyn Puckett
- Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Ashutosh Sharma
- Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Alice Vrielink
- School of Molecular Sciences, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Wonhwa Cho
- Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
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Moulaee K, Neri G. Electrochemical Amino Acid Sensing: A Review on Challenges and Achievements. BIOSENSORS 2021; 11:502. [PMID: 34940259 PMCID: PMC8699811 DOI: 10.3390/bios11120502] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2021] [Revised: 11/18/2021] [Accepted: 11/25/2021] [Indexed: 05/05/2023]
Abstract
The rapid growth of research in electrochemistry in the last decade has resulted in a significant advancement in exploiting electrochemical strategies for assessing biological substances. Among these, amino acids are of utmost interest due to their key role in human health. Indeed, an unbalanced amino acid level is the origin of several metabolic and genetic diseases, which has led to a great need for effective and reliable evaluation methods. This review is an effort to summarize and present both challenges and achievements in electrochemical amino acid sensing from the last decade (from 2010 onwards) to show where limitations and advantages stem from. In this review, we place special emphasis on five well-known electroactive amino acids, namely cysteine, tyrosine, tryptophan, methionine and histidine. The recent research and achievements in this area and significant performance metrics of the proposed electrochemical sensors, including the limit of detection, sensitivity, stability, linear dynamic range(s) and applicability in real sample analysis, are summarized and presented in separate sections. More than 400 recent scientific studies were included in this review to portray a rich set of ideas and exemplify the capabilities of the electrochemical strategies to detect these essential biomolecules at trace and even ultra-trace levels. Finally, we discuss, in the last section, the remaining issues and the opportunities to push the boundaries of our knowledge in amino acid electrochemistry even further.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kaveh Moulaee
- Department of Engineering, University of Messina, C.Da Di Dio, I-98166 Messina, Italy;
- Center of Excellence in Electrochemistry, School of Chemistry, College of Science, University of Tehran, Tehran 16846-13114, Iran
| | - Giovanni Neri
- Department of Engineering, University of Messina, C.Da Di Dio, I-98166 Messina, Italy;
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Sharma A, Sun J, Singaram I, Ralko A, Lee D, Cho W. Photostable and Orthogonal Solvatochromic Fluorophores for Simultaneous In Situ Quantification of Multiple Cellular Signaling Molecules. ACS Chem Biol 2020; 15:1913-1920. [PMID: 32525312 PMCID: PMC7909721 DOI: 10.1021/acschembio.0c00241] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
Ratiometric fluorescence sensors are powerful tools for direct quantification of diverse biological analytes. To overcome a shortage of solvatochromic fluorophores crucial for in situ ratiometric imaging of biological targets, we prepared and characterized a small library of modular fluorophores with diverse spectral properties. Among them, WCB and WCR showed excellent spectral properties, including high photostability, brightness, and solvatochromism, and are ideally suited for dual ratiometric imaging due to their spectral orthogonality. By conjugating WCB and WCR with protein-based lipid sensors, we were able to achieve robust simultaneous in situ quantitative imaging of two metabolically linked signaling lipids, phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate and phosphatidylinositol-3,4,5-trisphosphate in live cells. This study shows that any combination of signaling molecules can be simultaneously quantified in a spatiotemporally resolved manner by ratiometric imaging with finely tuned solvatochromic fluorophores.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Indira Singaram
- Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, 60607, United States
| | - Arthur Ralko
- Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, 60607, United States
| | - Daesung Lee
- Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, 60607, United States
| | - Wonhwa Cho
- Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, 60607, United States
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Sun J, Singaram I, Soflaee MH, Cho W. A direct fluorometric activity assay for lipid kinases and phosphatases. J Lipid Res 2020; 61:945-952. [PMID: 32341006 PMCID: PMC7269761 DOI: 10.1194/jlr.d120000794] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2020] [Revised: 04/24/2020] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Lipid kinases and phosphatases play key roles in cell signaling and regulation, are implicated in many human diseases, and are thus attractive targets for drug development. Currently, no direct in vitro activity assay is available for these important enzymes, which hampers mechanistic studies as well as high-throughput screening of small molecule modulators. Here, we report a highly sensitive and quantitative assay employing a ratiometric fluorescence sensor that directly and specifically monitors the real-time concentration change of a single lipid species. Because of its modular design, the assay system can be applied to a wide variety of lipid kinases and phosphatases, including class I phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) and phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN). When applied to PI3K, the assay provided detailed mechanistic information about the product inhibition and substrate acyl-chain selectivity of PI3K and enabled rapid evaluation of small molecule inhibitors. We also used this assay to quantitatively determine the substrate specificity of PTEN, providing new insight into its physiological function. In summary, we have developed a fluorescence-based real-time assay for PI3K and PTEN that we anticipate could be adapted to measure the activities of other lipid kinases and phosphatases with high sensitivity and accuracy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiachen Sun
- Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60607
| | - Indira Singaram
- Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60607
| | | | - Wonhwa Cho
- Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60607. mailto:
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Synthesis and characterization of novel imine substituted phthalocyanine for sensing of l-cysteine. J Electroanal Chem (Lausanne) 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jelechem.2018.12.050] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
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