1
|
Prabhakaran A, Jha KK, Sia RCE, Arellano Reyes RA, Sarangi NK, Kogut M, Guthmuller J, Czub J, Dietzek-Ivanšić B, Keyes TE. Triplet-Triplet Annihilation Upconverting Liposomes: Mechanistic Insights into the Role of Membranes in Two-Dimensional TTA-UC. ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES 2024; 16:29324-29337. [PMID: 38776974 PMCID: PMC11163426 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.4c00990] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2024] [Revised: 05/11/2024] [Accepted: 05/13/2024] [Indexed: 05/25/2024]
Abstract
Triplet-triplet annihilation upconversion (TTA-UC) implemented in nanoparticle assemblies is of emerging interest in biomedical applications, including in drug delivery and imaging. As it is a bimolecular process, ensuring sufficient mobility of the sensitizer and annihilator to facilitate effective collision in the nanoparticle is key. Liposomes can provide the benefits of two-dimensional confinement and condensed concentration of the sensitizer and annihilator along with superior fluidity compared to other nanoparticle assemblies. They are also biocompatible and widely applied across drug delivery modalities. However, there are relatively few liposomal TTA-UC systems reported to date, so systematic studies of the influence of the liposomal environment on TTA-UC are currently lacking. Here, we report the first example of a BODIPY-based sensitizer TTA-UC system within liposomes and use this system to study TTA-UC generation and compare the relative intensity of the anti-Stokes signal for this system as a function of liposome composition and membrane fluidity. We report for the first time on time-resolved spectroscopic studies of TTA-UC in membranes. Nanosecond transient absorption data reveal the BODIPY-perylene dyad sensitizer has a long triplet lifetime in liposome with contributions from three triplet excited states, whose lifetimes are reduced upon coinclusion of the annihilator due to triplet-triplet energy transfer, to a greater extent than in solution. This indicates triplet energy transfer between the sensitizer and the annihilator is enhanced in the membrane system. Molecular dynamics simulations of the sensitizer and annihilator TTA collision complex are modeled in the membrane and confirm the co-orientation of the pair within the membrane structure and that the persistence time of the bound complex exceeds the TTA kinetics. Modeling also reliably predicted the diffusion coefficient for the sensitizer which matches closely with the experimental values from fluorescence correlation spectroscopy. The relative intensity of the TTA-UC output across nine liposomal systems of different lipid compositions was explored to examine the influence of membrane viscosity on upconversion (UC). UC showed the highest relative intensity for the most fluidic membranes and the weakest intensity for highly viscous membrane compositions, including a phase separation membrane. Overall, our study reveals that the co-orientation of the UC pair within the membrane is crucial for effective TTA-UC within a biomembrane and that the intensity of the TTA-UC output can be tuned in liposomal nanoparticles by modifying the phase and fluidity of the liposome. These new insights will aid in the design of liposomal TTA-UC systems for biomedical applications.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Amrutha Prabhakaran
- School
of Chemical Sciences and National Centre for Sensor Research, Dublin City University, Dublin 9, Ireland
| | - Keshav Kumar Jha
- Research
Department Functional Interfaces, Leibniz
Institute of Photonic Technology Jena, Jena 07745, Germany
- Institute
of Physical Chemistry and Abbe Center of Photonics, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Jena 07743, Germany
| | - Rengel Cane E. Sia
- Institute
of Physics and Applied Computer Science, Faculty of Applied Physics
and Mathematics, Gdańsk University
of Technology, Narutowicza 11/12, 80233 Gdańsk, Poland
| | - Ruben Arturo Arellano Reyes
- School
of Chemical Sciences and National Centre for Sensor Research, Dublin City University, Dublin 9, Ireland
| | - Nirod Kumar Sarangi
- School
of Chemical Sciences and National Centre for Sensor Research, Dublin City University, Dublin 9, Ireland
| | - Mateusz Kogut
- Department
of Physical Chemistry, Gdańsk University
of Technology, Narutowicza
11/12, 80233 Gdańsk, Poland
| | - Julien Guthmuller
- Institute
of Physics and Applied Computer Science, Faculty of Applied Physics
and Mathematics, Gdańsk University
of Technology, Narutowicza 11/12, 80233 Gdańsk, Poland
| | - Jacek Czub
- Department
of Physical Chemistry, Gdańsk University
of Technology, Narutowicza
11/12, 80233 Gdańsk, Poland
| | - Benjamin Dietzek-Ivanšić
- Research
Department Functional Interfaces, Leibniz
Institute of Photonic Technology Jena, Jena 07745, Germany
| | - Tia E. Keyes
- School
of Chemical Sciences and National Centre for Sensor Research, Dublin City University, Dublin 9, Ireland
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Li G, Li J, Otsuka Y, Zhang S, Takahashi M, Yamada K. A BODIPY-Based Fluorogenic Probe for Specific Imaging of Lipid Droplets. MATERIALS 2020; 13:ma13030677. [PMID: 32028677 PMCID: PMC7040634 DOI: 10.3390/ma13030677] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2020] [Revised: 02/01/2020] [Accepted: 02/01/2020] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
We developed an easily accessible boron-dipyrromethene (BODIPY)-based fluorogenic probe, which we named LD-TB. This probe emits bright fluorescence in oil; when compared with aqueous solution, a significant enhancement of fluorescence brightness is observed. Cellular experiments confirmed that the probe stains the lipid droplets (LDs) specifically in both live and fixed cells, providing background-free images. Compared with Nile Red dye, a commonly used LD marker, LD-TB showed superior photostability. The sharp absorption and emission bands enable its multicolor imaging with blue and green probes. Importantly, the probe has proved to have low toxicity and is compatible with cell fixation. Our research provides a promising new fluorogenic probe for specific imaging of LDs.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Guanglei Li
- Division of Materials Science, Graduate School of Environmental Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 0860-0810, Japan; (Y.O.); (S.Z.)
- Correspondence: (G.L.); (K.Y.); Tel.: +81-011-706-2254 (K.Y.)
| | - Jianye Li
- Laboratory of Animal Genetics and Reproduction, Graduate School of Agriculture, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060-8589, Japan;
| | - Yu Otsuka
- Division of Materials Science, Graduate School of Environmental Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 0860-0810, Japan; (Y.O.); (S.Z.)
| | - Shuai Zhang
- Division of Materials Science, Graduate School of Environmental Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 0860-0810, Japan; (Y.O.); (S.Z.)
| | - Masashi Takahashi
- Laboratory of Animal Genetics and Reproduction, Research Faculty of Agriculture, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060-8589, Japan;
- Graduate School of Global Food Resources/Global Station for Food, Land and Water Resources, Global Institution for Collaborative Research and Education, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060-8589, Japan
| | - Koji Yamada
- Division of Materials Science, Graduate School of Environmental Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 0860-0810, Japan; (Y.O.); (S.Z.)
- Correspondence: (G.L.); (K.Y.); Tel.: +81-011-706-2254 (K.Y.)
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Bui HT, Mai DK, Kim B, Choi KH, Park BJ, Kim HJ, Cho S. Effect of Substituents on the Photophysical Properties and Bioimaging Application of BODIPY Derivatives with Triphenylamine Substituents. J Phys Chem B 2019; 123:5601-5607. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.9b04782] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Hoa Thi Bui
- Department of Chemistry, Chonnam National University, Gwangju 61186, Korea
| | - Duy Khuong Mai
- Department of Chemistry, Chonnam National University, Gwangju 61186, Korea
- Department of Chemistry, Chosun University, Gwangju 61452, Korea
| | - Boram Kim
- Department of Chemistry, Chosun University, Gwangju 61452, Korea
| | | | | | - Ho-Joong Kim
- Department of Chemistry, Chosun University, Gwangju 61452, Korea
| | - Sung Cho
- Department of Chemistry, Chonnam National University, Gwangju 61186, Korea
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
O Connor D, Byrne A, Berselli GB, Long C, Keyes TE. Mega-stokes pyrene ceramide conjugates for STED imaging of lipid droplets in live cells. Analyst 2019; 144:1608-1621. [PMID: 30631867 DOI: 10.1039/c8an02260g] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Lipid droplets are dynamic subcellular organelles that participate in a range of physiological processes including metabolism, regulation and lipid storage. Their role in disease, such as cancer, where they are involved in metabolism and in chemoresistance, has emerged over recent years. Thus, the value of lipid droplets as diagnostic markers is increasingly apparent where number and size of droplets can be a useful prognostic. Although diverse in size, LDs are typically too small to be easily enumerated by conventional microscopy. The advent of super-resolution microscopy methods offers the prospect of detailed insights but there are currently no commercial STED probes suited to this task and STED, where this method has been used to study LDs it has relied on fixed samples. Here, we report a pyrene-based ceramide conjugate PyLa-C17Cer, that stains lipid droplets with exceptionally high precision in living cells and shows excellent performance in stimulated emission depletion microscopy. The parent compound PyLa comprises a pyrene carboxyl core appended with 3,4-dimethylaminophenyl. The resulting luminophore exhibits high fluorescent quantum yield, mega-Stokes shift and low cytotoxicity. From DFT calculations the Stokes shifted fluorescent state arises from a dimethylaminophenyl to pyrene charge-transfer transition. While the parent compound is cell permeable, it is relatively promiscuous, emitting from both protein and membranous structures within the living mammalian cell. However, on conjugation of C17 ceramide to the free carboxylic acid, the resulting PyLa-C17Cer, remains passively permeable to the cell membrane but targets lipid droplets within the cell through a temperature dependent mechanism, with high selectivity. Targeting was confirmed through colocalisation with the commercial lipid probe Nile Red. PyLa-C17Cer offers outstanding contrast of LDs both in fluorescence intensity and lifetime imaging due to its large Stokes shift and very weak emission from aqueous media. Moreover, because the compound is exceptionally photochemically stable with no detectable triplet emission under low temperature conditions, it can be used as an effective probe for fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS). These versatile fluorophores are powerful multimodal probes for combined STED/FCS/lifetime studies of lipid droplets and domains in live cells.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Darragh O Connor
- School of Chemical Sciences, National Centre for Sensor Research, Dublin City University, Dublin 9, Ireland.
| | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
5
|
O' Connor D, Byrne A, Keyes TE. Linker length in fluorophore–cholesterol conjugates directs phase selectivity and cellular localisation in GUVs and live cells. RSC Adv 2019; 9:22805-22816. [PMID: 35514503 PMCID: PMC9067298 DOI: 10.1039/c9ra03905h] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2019] [Accepted: 07/14/2019] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Lipid membrane fluorescent probes that are both domain-selective and compatible with demanding microscopy methods are crucial to elucidate the presence and function of rafts and domains in cells and biophysical models. Whereas targeting fluorescent probes to liquid-disordered (Ld) domains is relatively facile, it is far more difficult to direct probes with high selectivity to liquid-ordered (Lo) domains. Here, a simple, one-pot approach to probe–cholesterol conjugation is described using Steglich esterification to synthesise two identical BODIPY derivatives that differ only in the length of the aliphatic chain between the dye and cholesterol. In the first, BODIPY-Ar-Chol, the probe and cholesterol were directly ester linked and in the second BODIPY-Ahx-Chol, a hexyl linker separated probe from cholesterol. Uptake and distribution of each probe was compared in ternary, phase separated giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) using a commercial Ld marker as a reference. BODIPY-Ar-Chol targets almost exclusively the Ld domains with selectivity of >90% whereas by contrast introducing the C6 linker between the probe and cholesterol drove the probe to Lo with excellent selectivity (>80%). The profound impact of the linker length extended also to uptake and distribution in live mammalian cells. BODIPY-Ahx-Chol associates strongly with the plasma membrane where it partitioned preferably into opposing micron dimensioned do-mains to a commercial Ld marker and its concentration at the membrane was reduced by cyclodextrin treatment of the cells. By contrast the BODIPY-Ahx-Chol permeated the membrane and localised strongly to lipid droplets within the cell. The data demonstrates the profound influence of linker length in cholesterol bioconjugates in directing the probe. By inserting a hexyl linker between a BODIPY probe and cholesterol pendant, the localization of the probe at ternary phase separated GUVs switches from Ld to Lo domains with high specificity.![]()
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Darragh O' Connor
- School of Chemical Sciences
- National Centre for Sensor Research
- Dublin City University
- Dublin 9
- Ireland
| | - Aisling Byrne
- School of Chemical Sciences
- National Centre for Sensor Research
- Dublin City University
- Dublin 9
- Ireland
| | - Tia E. Keyes
- School of Chemical Sciences
- National Centre for Sensor Research
- Dublin City University
- Dublin 9
- Ireland
| |
Collapse
|