Ratiometric Fluorescent Probe for Lysosomal pH Measurement and Imaging in Living Cells Using Single-Wavelength Excitation

Anal Chem. 2017 Jul 5;89(13):7038-7045. doi: 10.1021/acs.analchem.7b00754. Epub 2017 Jun 12.

Abstract

A novel lysosome-targeting ratiometric fluorescent probe (CQ-Lyso) based on the chromenoquinoline chromorphore has been developed for the selective and sensitive detection of intracellular pH in living cells. In acidic media, the protonation of the quinoline ring of CQ-Lyso induces an enhanced intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) process, which results in large red-shifts in both the absorption (104 nm) and emission (53 nm) spectra which forms the basis of a new ratiometric fluorescence pH sensor. This probe efficiently stains lysosomes with high Pearson's colocalization coefficients using LysoTrackerDeep Red (0.97) and LysoTrackerBlue DND-22 (0.95) as references. Importantly, we show that CQ-Lyso quantitatively measures and images lysosomal pH values in a ratiometric manner using single-wavelength excitation.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Benzopyrans / chemical synthesis
  • Benzopyrans / chemistry*
  • Benzopyrans / radiation effects
  • Benzopyrans / toxicity
  • Fluorescent Dyes / chemical synthesis
  • Fluorescent Dyes / chemistry*
  • Fluorescent Dyes / radiation effects
  • Fluorescent Dyes / toxicity
  • HeLa Cells
  • Humans
  • Hydrogen-Ion Concentration
  • Light
  • Lysosomes / metabolism*
  • Microscopy, Confocal
  • Microscopy, Fluorescence
  • Quinolines / chemical synthesis
  • Quinolines / chemistry*
  • Quinolines / radiation effects
  • Quinolines / toxicity

Substances

  • Benzopyrans
  • Fluorescent Dyes
  • Quinolines