A novel ratiometric pH-responsive fluorescent probe based on FRET-ICT mechanism for lysosome targeting and in vivo imaging of colorectal cancer
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Intracellular pH dynamics significantly influences a wide array of cellular processes, including cell proliferation, apoptosis and endocytosis and enzyme activity. To monitor real-time change of intracellular pH values, we developed a novel ratiometric pH-responsive fluorescent probe, TPSP, based on Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) and intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) mechanism. Extracellular evaluations demonstrated a good linear correlation (R 2 = 0.9935) between the fluorescence ratio of TPSP and pH values ranging from 4.0 to 5.0 (pK a =4.64). Given the remarkable acidic microenvironment (pH 3.8–4.7) in tumor cell lysosomes, we performed further biological experiments, which validated precise localization of lysosomes in colorectal cancer (CRC) cells and specific in vivo imaging of CRC tumors in mouse models. These findings preliminarily suggest that TPSP could serves as a promising molecular tool for pH dynamics monitoring, lysosomal function assessment and intraoperative navigation.
Source: Journal of Luminescence
Authors: Liu He, Jianfei Jin, Yun Si, Chenxi Luo
Language: English
Subfield: Spectroscopy
Field: Chemistry
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $2,850
OpenAlex ID: W4416155249