Multimodal Benefits of a Bimodal Boron Difluoride Complex: Decrypting the Ferroptosis‐Induced Micropolarity‐Alteration, LD‐ER Intimacy, and Steatosis Monitoring

• Published in: Advanced optical materials Vol. 12; no. 29
• Main Authors: Chakraborty, Barsha, Dutta, Tanoy, Koner, Apurba Lal
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Weinheim Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01-10-2024
• Subjects: Difluorides; dioxaborine dye; Emission spectra; Endoplasmic reticulum; ferroptosis; Line spectra; lipid droplets; Lipids; Monitoring; organelle communication; Organelles; ratiometric imaging
• ISSN: 2195-1071; 2195-1071
• DOI: 10.1002/adom.202401308

Communication between subcellular organelles is crucial for a synchronized cellular response which drives the search for chemical tools to simultaneously visualize dual organelles to unveil these dynamic interactions. A polarity‐sensitive dual organelle targeting dioxaborine derivative, namely DOBEL, which stains lipid droplets (LDs) and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) simultaneously is introduced. This report is the first to demonstrate how the intrinsic difference in micropolarity drives the visualization of LDs in the green channel while ER in the red channel involves a single probe. The in situ emission spectra inside these organelles allow polarity quantification, further leading to deciphering the unique microenvironments in different cell lines. Exploiting ratiometric fluorescence imaging revealed how the micropolarity inside both LDs and ER alters during Ferroptosis. Altogether, DOBEL can be used as a superior imaging tool for monitoring LD‐ER interaction during regular status and ferroptosis‐related diseases in living cells.
This study uncovers the potential designing of a dual‐organelle targeted fluorescent marker for Lipid droplets and Endoplasmic reticulum to simultaneously image them and probe their dynamics upon inducing ferroptosis in an in vitro model. The significance of this contribution lies in the plausible prospects for cancer treatment brought about by the experimental results on lipid metabolism and ferroptosis.