Fluorescent Chemical Tools for Tracking Anionic Phospholipids

Abstract

Anionic phospholipids are essential structural components of cell membranes. Spatiotemporal dynamics of these lipids play central roles in regulating signalling events, membrane trafficking, maintenance of cell‐shape, and cargo transport. On the other hand, defects in anionic phospholipid metabolism are linked to multiple diseases. Hence, the ability to visualize these phospholipids and their dynamics in living cells can afford mechanistic insights into vital cell processes, guide the development of therapeutics, and lead to diagnostic agents. In this exciting backdrop, fluorescent sensors that can detect anionic phospholipids become key chemical tools that can be used to image and track these bio‐molecules in a confocal microscopy platform. In this review, we highlight existing chemical probes and sensing strategies for anionic phospholipids along with their pros and cons in the context of their applicability toward imaging and tracking these essential lipids in living cells.

Addressing the gaps in homeostatic mechanisms of copper and copper dithiocarbamate complexes in cancer therapy: a shift from classical platinum-drug mechanisms

“…297,298 The charge on the metal centres could also enhance the affinity for these complexes to anionic groups such as anionic proteins found in the cell membranes together with polyanionic phosphate backbones of DNA which could lead to enhanced cellular absorption as well as DNA binding. [299][300][301] This technique is recognized as presenting new options for researchers in this field to alter features of metal transport in biosystems as a therapeutic strategy.…”

Fluorescence-based sensing of the bioenergetic and physicochemical status of the cell

“…A drawback of using these dyes is in most cases the inability to specifically label a particular membrane. More advanced techniques such as in vitro conjugation of lipids with organic dyes and the application of a lipid binding domains have increased the specificity of membrane labeling (Kundu, Chandra, & Datta, 2021;Shi, Heegaard, Rasmussen, & Gilbert, 2004). For instance, the lactadherin C2 domain allows the detection of phosphatidylserine (PS) lipids, whereas other protein domains and antibodies (labeled with fluorescent probes) have been used for phosphoinositides (PI) (Va ´rnai & Balla, 2006;Wakelam, 2014).…”

Relation among absorbance shifts, mineralization morphology, and electronic conductivity of π-peptide aggregates with different amino acid residues

“…31 The chirality of the amino acids is also known to be another factor to tune the supramolecular arrangement of the cores to affect its electrical properties. 23,32,34 Altering the central p-chromophores can also lead to changes in the stacking parameters, resulting in different material properties. 8,25,35,36 In this manuscript, we focus on the change in morphological and electrical properties of solid-state thin film devices by altering the amino acids on side chains of two central p-chromophores.…”