Monoamine oxidase B activatable red fluorescence probe for bioimaging in cells and zebrafish

A real-time and specific for the detection of Monoamine Oxidase B (MAO-B) to investigate the MAO-B-relevant disease development and treatment process is urgently desirable. Here, we utilized MAO-B to catalyze the conversion of propylamino groups to aldehyde groups, which was then quickly followed by a β-elimination process to produce fluorescent probes (FNJP) that may be used to detect MAO-B in vitro and in vivo. The FNJP probe possesses unique properties, including favorable reactivity (Km = 10.8 μM), high cell permeability, and NIR characteristics (λem = 610 nm). Moreover, the FNJP probe showed high selectivity for MAO-B and was able to detect endogenous MAO-B levels from a mixed population of NIH-3 T3 and HepG2 cells. MAO-B expression was found to be increased in cells under lipopolysaccharide-stimulated cellular oxidative stress in neuronal-like SH-SY5Y cells. In addition, the visualization of FNJP for MAO-B activity in zebrafish can be an effective tool for exploring the biofunctions of MAO-B. Considering these excellent properties, the FNJP probe may be a powerful tool for detecting MAO-B levels in living organisms and can be used for accurate clinical diagnoses of related diseases.

Optical substrates for drug-metabolizing enzymes: Recent advances and future perspectives

Drug-metabolizing enzymes (DMEs), a diverse group of enzymes responsible for the metabolic elimination of drugs and other xenobiotics, have been recognized as the critical determinants to drug safety and efficacy. Deciphering and understanding the key roles of individual DMEs in drug metabolism and toxicity, as well as characterizing the interactions of central DMEs with xenobiotics require reliable, practical and highly specific tools for sensing the activities of these enzymes in biological systems. In the last few decades, the scientists have developed a variety of optical substrates for sensing human DMEs, parts of them have been successfully used for studying target enzyme(s) in tissue preparations and living systems. Herein, molecular design principals and recent advances in the development and applications of optical substrates for human DMEs have been reviewed systematically. Furthermore, the challenges and future perspectives in this field are also highlighted. The presented information offers a group of practical approaches and imaging tools for sensing DMEs activities in complex biological systems, which strongly facilitates high-throughput screening the modulators of target DMEs and studies on drug/herb‒drug interactions, as well as promotes the fundamental researches for exploring the relevance of DMEs to human diseases and drug treatment outcomes.

Rapid Two-Photon Fluorescence Imaging of Monoamine Oxidase B for Diagnosis of Early-Stage Liver Fibrosis in Mice

Liver fibrosis could induce cirrhosis and liver cancer, causing serious damages to liver function and even death. Early diagnosis of fibrosis is extremely requisite for optimizing treatment schedule to improve cure rate. In early-stage fibrosis, overexpressed monoamine oxidase B (MAO-B) can serve as a biomarker, which greatly contributes to the diagnosis of early liver fibrosis. However, there is still a lack of desired strategy to precisely monitor MAO-B in situ. In this work, we established a two-photon fluorescence imaging method for in vivo detection of MAO-B activity counting on a simply prepared probe, BiPhAA. The BiPhAA could be activated by MAO-B within 10 min and fluoresced brightly. To our knowledge, this BiPhAA-based imaging platform for MAO-B is more rapid than other current detection methods. Furthermore, BiPhAA allowed the dynamic observation of endogenous MAO-B level changes in hepatic stellate cells (LX-2). Through two-photon fluorescence imaging, we observed six times higher fluorescence brightness in the liver tissue of fibrosis mice than that of normal mice, thus successfully distinguishing mice with liver fibrosis from normal mice. Our work offers a simple, fast, and highly sensitive approach for imaging MAO-B in situ and paves a way to the diagnosis of early liver fibrosis with accuracy.

Fluorescent probes for bioimaging of potential biomarkers in Parkinson's disease

This review comprehensively summarizes various types of fluorescent probes for PD and their applications for detection of various PD biomarkers.

Recent advances of small molecule fluorescent probes for distinguishing monoamine oxidase-A and monoamine oxidase-B in vitro and in vivo

Monoamine oxidases (MAO-A and MAO-B) are the two flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) enzymes that play an important role in neurotransmitter homeostasis and in protection against biogenic amines. The two MAO enzymes are related to various diseases such as neurological disorders, cancer or other systemic diseases. It is crucial to distinguish these two subtypes in order to explore the pathogenesis and pathophysiology of different diseases. In this review, the relationship between MAOs and related diseases is briefly introduced. Additionally, we summarize the recent advances in small molecule fluorescent probes for specific detection of MAO-A and MAO-B.

Structure-Based Specific Detection and Inhibition of Monoamine Oxidases and Their Applications in Central Nervous System Diseases

Monoamine oxidases (MAOs) are the enzymes that catalyze the oxidation of monoamines, such as dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin, which serve as key neurotransmitters in the central nervous system (CNS). MAOs play important roles in maintaining the homeostasis of monoamines, and the aberrant expression or activation of MAOs underlies the pathogenesis of monoamine neurotransmitter disorders, including neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases. Clearly, detecting and inhibiting the activities of MAOs is of great value for the diagnosis and therapeutics of these diseases. Accordingly, many specific detection probes and inhibitors have been developed and substantially contributed to basic and clinical studies of these diseases. In this review, progress in the detecting and inhibiting of MAOs and their applications in mechanism exploration and treatment of neurotransmitter-related disorders is summarized. Notably, how the detection probes and inhibitors of MAOs were developed has been specifically addressed. It is hoped that this review will benefit the design of more effective and sensitive probes and inhibitors for MAOs, and eventually the treatment of monoamine neurotransmitter disorders.

Recent advances in reaction-based fluorescent probes for detecting monoamine oxidases in living systems

This Minireview summarizes the recent advances in reaction based MAO type fluorescent probes and their imaging applications in living systems.

Novel approaches in function-driven single-cell genomics

Deeper sequencing and improved bioinformatics in conjunction with single-cell and metagenomic approaches continue to illuminate undercharacterized environmental microbial communities. This has propelled the 'who is there, and what might they be doing' paradigm to the uncultivated and has already radically changed the topology of the tree of life and provided key insights into the microbial contribution to biogeochemistry. While characterization of 'who' based on marker genes can describe a large fraction of the community, answering 'what are they doing' remains the elusive pinnacle for microbiology. Function-driven single-cell genomics provides a solution by using a function-based screen to subsample complex microbial communities in a targeted manner for the isolation and genome sequencing of single cells. This enables single-cell sequencing to be focused on cells with specific phenotypic or metabolic characteristics of interest. Recovered genomes are conclusively implicated for both encoding and exhibiting the feature of interest, improving downstream annotation and revealing activity levels within that environment. This emerging approach has already improved our understanding of microbial community functioning and facilitated the experimental analysis of uncharacterized gene product space. Here we provide a comprehensive review of strategies that have been applied for function-driven single-cell genomics and the future directions we envision.

An Endoperoxide Reactivity-Based FRET Probe for Ratiometric Fluorescence Imaging of Labile Iron Pools in Living Cells

Iron is essential for sustaining life, as its ability to cycle between multiple oxidation states is critical for catalyzing chemical transformations in biological systems. However, without proper regulation, this same redox capacity can trigger oxidative stress events that contribute to aging along with diseases ranging from cancer to cardiovascular and neurodegenerative disorders. Despite its importance, methods for monitoring biological iron bound weakly to cellular ligands−the labile iron pool−to generate a response that preserves spatial and temporal information remain limited, owing to the potent fluorescence quenching ability of iron. We report the design, synthesis, and biological evaluation of FRET Iron Probe 1 (FIP-1), a reactivity-based probe that enables ratiometric fluorescence imaging of labile iron pools in living systems. Inspired by antimalarial natural products and related therapeutics, FIP-1 links two fluorophores (fluorescein and Cy3) through an Fe(II)-cleavable endoperoxide bridge, where Fe(II)-triggered peroxide cleavage leads to a decrease in fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) from the fluorescein donor to Cy3 acceptor by splitting these two dyes into separate fragments. FIP-1 responds to Fe(II) in aqueous buffer with selectivity over competing metal ions and is capable of detecting changes in labile iron pools within living cells with iron supplementation and/or depletion. Moreover, application of FIP-1 to a model of ferroptosis reveals a change in labile iron pools during this form of cell death, providing a starting point to study iron signaling in living systems.

Red emission fluorescent probes for visualization of monoamine oxidase in living cells

Here we report two novel red emission fluorescent probes for the highly sensitive and selective detection of monoamine oxidase (MAO) with large Stokes shift (227 nm). Both of the probes possess solid state fluorescence and can accomplish the identification of MAO on test papers. The probe MAO-Red-1 exhibited a detection limit down to 1.2 μg mL⁻¹ towards MAO-B. Moreover, the cleavage product was unequivocally conformedby HPLC and LCMS and the result was in accordance with the proposed oxidative deamination mechanism. The excellent photostability of MAO-Red-1 was proved both in vitro and in vivo through fluorescent kinetic experiment and laser exposure experiment of confocal microscopy, respectively. Intracellular experiments also confirmed the low cytotoxity and exceptional cell imaging abilities of MAO-Red-1. It was validated both in HeLa and HepG2 cells that MAO-Red-1 was capable of reporting MAO activity through the variation of fluorescence intensity.

Two-Photon Small Molecule Enzymatic Probes

Enzymes are essential for life, especially in the development of disease and on drug effects, but as we cannot yet directly observe the inside interactions and only partially observe biochemical outcomes, tools "translating" these processes into readable information are essential for better understanding of enzymes as well as for developing effective tools to fight against diseases. Therefore, sensitive small molecule probes suitable for direct in vivo monitoring of enzyme activities are ultimately desirable. For fulfilling this desire, two-photon small molecule enzymatic probes (TSMEPs) producing amplified fluorescent signals based on enzymatic conversion with better photophysical properties and deeper penetration in intact tissues and whole animals have been developed and demonstrated to be powerful in addressing the issues described above. Nonetheless, currently available TSMEPs only cover a small portion of enzymes despite the distinct advantages of two-photon fluorescence microscopy. In this Account, we would like to share design principles for TSMEPs as potential indicators of certain pathology-related biomarkers together with their applications in disease models to inspire more elegant work to be done in this area. Highlights will be addressed on how to equip two-photon fluorescent probes with features amenable for direct assessment of enzyme activities in complex pathological environments. We give three recent examples from our laboratory and collaborations in which TSMEPs are applied to visualize the distribution and activity of enzymes at cellular and organism levels. The first example shows that we could distinguish endogenous phosphatase activity in different organelles; the second illustrates that TSMEP is suitable for specific and sensitive detection of a potential Parkinson's disease marker (monoamine oxidase B) in a variety of biological systems from cells to patient samples, and the third identifies that TSMEPs can be applied to other enzyme families (proteases). Indeed, TSMEPs have helped to uncover new biological roles and functions of a series of enzymes; therefore, we hope to encourage more TSMEPs to be developed for diverse enzymes. Meanwhile, improvements in the TSMEP properties (such as new two-photon fluorophores with longer excitation and emission wavelengths and strategies allowing high specificity) are also indispensable for producing high-fidelity information inside biological systems. We are enthusiastic however that, with these efforts and wider applications of TSMEPs in both research studies and further clinical diagnoses, comprehensive knowledge of enzyme contributions to various physiologies will be obtained.