Simultaneous Two-Color Visualization of Lipid Droplets and Endoplasmic Reticulum and Their Interplay by Single Fluorescent Probes in Lambda Mode

In living systems, subcellular organelles mutually cooperate and closely contact to form organelle interaction networks. Thus, the simultaneous and discriminative visualization of different organelles is extremely valuable for elucidating their distribution and interplay. However, such meaningful investigations remain a great challenge due to the lack of advanced single fluorescent probes (SF-probes) capable of simultaneous and two-color imaging of two targets. Herein, for the first time, we present two excited-state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) based SF-probes (PPC and EPC) for simultaneous two-color fluorescence imaging of lipid droplets (LDs) and the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) under single-wavelength excitation. Due to the strong electron-donating ability of the side substituents, the fluorescence spectra and colors of these ESIPT probes are highly sensitive to the nuance of water contents between LDs and ER, leading to orange and green fluorescence in LDs and ER, respectively, in the Lambda imaging mode. Using the probe PPC or EPC, the morphology, size, and distribution of LDs and ER have been investigated in live cells and tissues. With the aid of in situ and real-time fluorescence imaging in Lambda mode, we observed the generation of newborn LDs near the ER regions and their close apposition and shared identical fluorescence colors, probably providing a valuable proof for the mainstream hypothesis that LDs originate from the ER. The remarkable imaging performances render these SF-probes as powerful tools to decipher LD-ER related biological processes.

Automated summary

The study introduces two novel SF-probes based on ESIPT, enabling simultaneous two-color imaging of lipid droplets and endoplasmic reticulum, providing a powerful tool for unraveling the biological processes related to LD-ER interactions.