Abstract
An excited state intramolecular proton transfer fluorogen, 2-(4-(benzo[d]thiazol-2-yl)-4-hydroxyphenylcarbamoyl) benzoic acid (T4BA), has been synthesized via one-pot reaction for the first time. The cellular imaging effect of T4BA was investigated on human cervical carcinoma cell line HeLa. The fluorescence stability and cellular uptake mechanism of T4BA were also investigated. T4BA exhibits a typical fluorescent characteristic of organic small molecule and the carboxyl group of T4BA can easily form hydrogen bond with the active constituents in cytoplasm which leads to rapid (as quick as 30 s) and selective light-up of the cytoplasm of HeLa cells. Survival rate reached more than 85 % with the cultural concentration up to 100 μM, indicating almost no toxicity of T4BA to the living cells at the working concentration. Results revealed that fluorescence intensity of T4BA decreased less than 10 % after 10 min continuous laser illumination and this dye acts well over a wide pH range, indicating a significant photostability and great potential of it for commercializing as a highly attractive cell imaging agent.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Jung G (2011) Fluorescent proteins II application of fluorescent protein technology. Springer series on fluorescence. Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Wang BG, Tang WW, Lu HS, Huang ZY (2015) Hydrothermal synthesis of ionic liquid-capped carbon quantum dots with high thermal stability and anion responsiveness. J Mater Sci 50:5411–5418. doi:10.1007/s10853-015-9085-y
Swarnalatha K, Muthuvinothini A (2015) Fluorescence sensing of melamine based on zirconia-coated CdS quantum dots. J Mater Sci 50:2318–2326. doi:10.1007/s10853-014-8795-x
Zhang W, Sun H, Yin SY, Chang JJ, Li YH, Guo XY, Yuan Z (2015) Bright red-emitting polymer dots for specific cellular imaging. J Mater Sci 50:5571–5577. doi:10.1007/s10853-015-9104-z
Chan Y-H, Wu P-J (2015) Semiconducting polymer nanoparticles as fluorescent probes for biological imaging and sensing. Part Part Syst Char 32:11–28. doi:10.1002/ppsc.201400123
Liu H-Y, Wu P-J, Kuo S-Y, Chen C-P, Chang E-H, Wu C-Y, Chan Y-H (2015) Quinoxaline-based polymer dots with ultrabright red to near-infrared fluorescence for In vivo biological imaging. J Am Chem Soc 137:10420–10429. doi:10.1021/jacs.5b06710
Chan Y-H, Ye FM, Gallina ME, Zhang XJ, Jin YH, Wu I-C, Chiu DT (2012) Hybrid semiconducting polymer dot-quantum dot with narrow-band emission, near-infrared fluorescence, and high brightness. J Am Chem Soc 134:7309–7312. doi:10.1021/ja3022973
Ding MY, Lu CH, Cao LH, Song JB, Ni YR, Xu ZZ (2013) Facile synthesis of beta-NaYF4:Ln(3 +) (Ln = Eu, Tb, Yb/Er, Yb/Tm) microcrystals with down- and up-conversion luminescence. J Mater Sci 48:4989–4998. doi:10.1007/s10853-013-7285-x
Liao JS, Nie LL, Liu SH, Liu B, Wen HR (2014) Yb3+ concentration dependence of upconversion luminescence in Y2Sn2O7:Yb3+/Er3+nanophosphors. J Mater Sci 49:6081–6086. doi:10.1007/s10853-014-8334-9
Chudakov DM, Matz MV, Lukyanov S, Lukyanov KA (2010) Fluorescent proteins and their applications in imaging living cells and tissues. Physiol Rev 90:1103–1163. doi:10.1152/physrev.00038.2009
Chen H, Liu YF, Lu YN, Wu HM, Qian H (2014) Using layer-by-layer assembly to fabricate NaLa(MoO4)(2)@CdTe core-shell microspheres with high fluorescence. J Mater Sci 49:4506–4512. doi:10.1007/s10853-014-8149-8
Chang JC, Rosenthal SJ (2013) Single quantum dot imaging in living cells. Methods Mol Biol 991:149–162. doi:10.1007/978-1-62703-336-7_15
Li HC, Zhou QF, Liu W, Yan B, Zhao Y, Jiang GB (2008) Progress in the toxicological researches for quantum dots. Sci China Ser B-Chem 51:393–400. doi:10.1007/s11426-008-0057-9
Zollinger H (1991) Color chemistry. Synthesis, properties and applications of organic dyes and pigments, 3rd edn. VCH, Weinheim
Zheng QS, Juette MF, Jockusch S, Wasserman MR, Zhou Z, Altman RB, Blanchard SC (2014) Ultra-stable organic fluorophores for single-molecule research. Chem Soc Rev 43:1044–1056. doi:10.1039/c3cs60237k
Zhang GL, Zhang HY, Gao Y, Tao R, Xin LJ, Yi JY, Li FY, Liu WL, Qiao J (2014) Near-infrared-emitting iridium(III) complexes as phosphorescent dyes for live cell imaging. Organometallics 33:61–68. doi:10.1021/om400676h
Li SPY, Liu HW, Zhang KY, Lo KKW (2010) Modification of luminescent iridium(III) polypyridine complexes with discrete poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) pendants: synthesis, emissive behavior, intracellular uptake, and PEGylation properties. Chem Eur J 16:8329–8339. doi:10.1002/chem.201000474
Lo KKW, Li SPY, Zhang KY (2011) Development of luminescent iridium(III) polypyridine complexes as chemical and biological probes. N J Chem 35:265–287. doi:10.1039/c0nj00478b
Birks JB (1970) Photophysics of aromatic molecules. Wiley-Interscience, London
Jo HJ, Nam JE, Sim K, Kim DH, Kim JH, Kang JK (2014) Molecular design and photovoltaic performance of organic dyes containing phenothiazine for dye-sensitized solar cells. J Nanosci Nanotechno 14:7938–7942. doi:10.1166/jnn.2014.9450
Jing CR, Cornish VW (2011) Chemical tags for labeling proteins inside living cells. Acc Chem Res 44:784–792. doi:10.1021/ar200099f
Chithrani BD, Chan WCW (2007) Elucidating the mechanism of cellular uptake and removal of protein-coated gold nanoparticles of different sizes and shapes. NanoLett 7:1542–1550. doi:10.1021/nl070363y
Dombu CY, Kroubi CM, Zibouche R, Matran R, Betbeder D (2010) Characterization of endocytosis and exocytosis of cationic nanoparticles in airway epithelium cells. Nano Technol 21:355102. doi:10.1088/0957-4484/21/35/355102
Shi HB, Kwok RTK, Liu JZ, Xing BG, Tang BZ, Liu B (2012) Real-time monitoring of cell apoptosis and drug screening using fluorescent light-up probe with aggregation-induced emission characteristics. J Am Chem Soc 134:17972–17981. doi:10.1021/ja3064588
Li K, Qin W, Ding D, Tomczak N, Geng JL, Liu RR, Liu JZ, Zhang XH, Liu HW, Liu B, Tang BZ (2013) Photostable fluorescent organic dots with aggregation-induced emission (AIE dots) for noninvasive long-term cell tracing. Sci Rep. 3:1150. doi:10.1038/Srep01150
Cai MM, Gao ZQ, Zhou XH, Wang XP, Chen SF, Zhao YZ, Qian Y, Shi NE, Mi BX, Xie LH, Huang W (2012) A small change in molecular structure, a big difference in the AIEE mechanism. Phys Chem Chem Phys 14:5289–5296. doi:10.1039/c2cp23040b
Qian Y, Cai MM, Xie LH, Yang GQ, Wu SK, Huang W (2011) Restriction of photoinduced twisted intramolecular charge transfer. Chem Phys Chem 12:397–404. doi:10.1002/cphc.201000457
Tu ZZ, Liu M, QianY Yang GQ, CaiMM Wang LH, Huang W (2015) Easily fixed simple small ESIPT molecule with aggregation induced emission for fast and photostable “turn-on” bioimaging. RSC Advance 5:7789–7793. doi:10.1039/c4ra14405h
Wolfbeis OS (2015) An overview of nanoparticles commonly used in fluorescent bioimaging. Chem Soc Rev 44:4743–4768. doi:10.1039/c4cs00392f
Mueller H, Kassack MU, Wiese M (2004) Comparison of the usefulness of the MTT, ATP, and calcein assays to predict the potency of cytotoxic agents in various human cancer cell lines. J Biomol Screen 9:506–515. doi:10.1177/1087057104265386
Xu WC, Zuo JR, Wang LL, Ji LNA, Chao H (2014) Dinuclear ruthenium(II) polypyridyl complexes as single and two-photon luminescence cellular imaging probes. Chem Commun 50:2123–2125. doi:10.1039/c3cc48916g
Qian Y, Li SY, Wang Q, Sheng XH, Wu SK, Wang SQ, Li J, Yang GQ (2012) A nonpolymeric highly emissive ESIPT organogelator with neither dendritic structures nor long alkyl/alkoxy chains. Soft Matter 8:757–764. doi:10.1039/c1sm06358h
Qian Y, Li S, Zhang GQ, Wang Q, Wang SQ, Xu HJ, Li CZ, Li Y, Yang G (2007) Aggregation-induced emission enhancement of 2-(2’-hydroxyphenyl)benzothiazole-based excited-state intramolecular proton-transfer compounds. J Phys Chem B 111:5861–5868. doi:10.1021/jp070076i
Geng JL, Li K, Qin W, Ma L, Gurzadyan GG, Tang BZ, Liu B (2013) Eccentric loading of fluorogen with aggregation-induced emission in PLGA matrix increases nanoparticle fluorescence quantum yield for targeted cellular imaging. Small 9:2012–2019. doi:10.1002/smll.201202505
Puckett CA, Barton JK (2008) Mechanism of cellular uptake of a ruthenium polypyridyl complex. Biochemistry 47:11711–14716. doi:10.1021/bi800856t
Zhang KY, Lo KKW (2009) Synthesis, properties, and live-cell imaging studies of luminescent cyclometalated iidium(III) polypyridine complexes containing two or three biotin pendants. Inorg Chem 48:6011–6025. doi:10.1021/ic900412n
Mailander V, Landfester K (2009) Interaction of nanoparticles with cells. Biomacromolecules 10:2379–2400. doi:10.1021/bm900266r
Yu Y, Hong YN, Feng C, Liu JZ, Lam JWY, Faisal MT, Ng KM, Luo KQ, Tang BZ (2009) Synthesis of an AIE-active fluorogen and its application in cell imaging. Sci China, Ser B 52:15–19. doi:10.1007/s11426-009-0008-0
Chen JW, Law CCW, Lam JWY, Dong YP, Lo SMF, Williams ID, Zhu DB, Tang BZ (2003) Synthesis, light emission, nanoaggregation, and restricted intramolecular rotation of 1,1-substituted 2,3,4,5-tetraphenylsiloles. Chem Mater 15:1535–1546. doi:10.1021/cm021715z
Acknowledgements
This study was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21373114), National Key Basic Research Program of China (973) (2012CB933301), Project funded by the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions, PAPD (YX030002), Program for Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team in University (IRT1148), Research Launching Foundation from Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications (XK0300913043), Research Foundation from Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications (XK0300914081), and Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province of China (BK20140871).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Ethics declarations
Conflicts of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Tu, Z., Zhang, Q., Liu, M. et al. One-pot synthesis of a photostable green fluorescent probe for biological imaging. J Mater Sci 51, 2972–2979 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-015-9606-8
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-015-9606-8