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Pacheco-Liñán PJ, Alonso-Moreno C, Ocaña A, Ripoll C, García-Gil E, Garzón-Ruíz A, Herrera-Ochoa D, Blas-Gómez S, Cohen B, Bravo I. Formation of Highly Emissive Anthracene Excimers for Aggregation-Induced Emission/Self-Assembly Directed (Bio)imaging. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces 2023; 15:44786-44795. [PMID: 37699547 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.3c10823] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/14/2023]
Abstract
AIEgens have emerged as a promising alternative to molecular rotors in bioimaging applications. However, transferring the concept of aggregation-induced emission (AIE) from solution to living systems remains a challenge. Given the highly heterogeneous nature and the compartmentalization of the cell, different approaches are needed to control the self-assembly within the crowded intricate cellular environment. Herein, we report for the first time the self-assembly mechanism of an anthracene-guanidine derivative (AG) forming the rare and highly emissive T-shaped dimer in breast cancer cell lines as a proof of concept. This process is highly sensitive to the local environment in terms of polarity, viscosity, and/or water quantity that should enable the use of the AG as a fluorescence lifetime imaging biosensor for intracellular imaging of cellular structures and the monitoring of intracellular state parameters. Different populations of the monomer and T-shaped and π-π dimers were observed in the cell membrane, cytoplasm, and nucleoplasm, related to the local viscosity and presence of water. The T-shaped dimer is formed preferentially in the nucleus because of the higher density and viscosity compared to the cytoplasm. The present results should serve as a precursor for the development of new design strategies for molecular systems for a wide range of applications such as cell viscosity, density, or temperature sensing and imaging.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pedro J Pacheco-Liñán
- Unidad nanoDrug. Facultad de Farmacia de Albacete, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, 02008 Albacete, Spain
| | - Carlos Alonso-Moreno
- Unidad nanoDrug. Facultad de Farmacia de Albacete, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, 02008 Albacete, Spain
- Centro Regional de Investigaciones Biomédicas (CRIB), 02008 Albacete, Spain
- Centro de Innovación en Química Avanzada (ORFEO-CINQA), Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, 02008 Albacete, Spain
| | - Alberto Ocaña
- Experimental Therapeutics Unit, Hospital clínico San Carlos, IdISSC and CIBERONC, 28040 Madrid, Spain
- Unidad de Investigación del Complejo Hospitalario Universitario de Albacete. Oncología Traslacional, 02008 Albacete, Spain
| | - Consuelo Ripoll
- Unidad nanoDrug. Facultad de Farmacia de Albacete, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, 02008 Albacete, Spain
| | - Elena García-Gil
- Unidad de Investigación del Complejo Hospitalario Universitario de Albacete. Oncología Traslacional, 02008 Albacete, Spain
| | - Andrés Garzón-Ruíz
- Unidad nanoDrug. Facultad de Farmacia de Albacete, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, 02008 Albacete, Spain
| | - Diego Herrera-Ochoa
- Unidad nanoDrug. Facultad de Farmacia de Albacete, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, 02008 Albacete, Spain
| | - Sofía Blas-Gómez
- Unidad nanoDrug. Facultad de Farmacia de Albacete, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, 02008 Albacete, Spain
| | - Boiko Cohen
- Departamento de Química Física, Facultad de Ciencias Ambientales y Bioquímica, and Instituto de Nanociencia, Nanotecnología y Materiales Moleculares (INAMOL), Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Avenida Carlos III, S/N, 45071 Toledo, Spain
| | - Iván Bravo
- Unidad nanoDrug. Facultad de Farmacia de Albacete, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, 02008 Albacete, Spain
- Centro Regional de Investigaciones Biomédicas (CRIB), 02008 Albacete, Spain
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