TY - JOUR
T1 - Phototoxicity of BODIPY in long-term imaging can be reduced by intramolecular motion
AU - Kähärä, Iida
AU - Durandin, Nikita
AU - Ilina, Polina
AU - Efimov, Alexander
AU - Laaksonen, Timo
AU - Vuorimaa-Laukkanen, Elina
AU - Lisitsyna, Ekaterina
N1 - Funding Information:
The study was funded by Academy of Finland (316893, Timo Laaksonen; 311362, Elina Vuorimaa-Laukkanen & 323669, Ekaterina Lisitsyna).
Funding Information:
BPC3+ rotor was kindly provided by Dr. Marina Kuimova (Imperial College London). We thank the DDCB core facility supported by the University of Helsinki (HiLIFE) and Biocenter Finland.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Author(s).
PY - 2022/9
Y1 - 2022/9
N2 - For long-term live-cell fluorescence imaging and biosensing, it is crucial to work with a dye that has high fluorescence quantum yield and photostability without being detrimental to the cells. In this paper, we demonstrate that neutral boron-dipyrromethene (BODIPY)-based molecular rotors have great properties for high-light-dosage demanding live-cell fluorescence imaging applications that require repetitive illuminations. In molecular rotors, an intramolecular rotation (IMR) allows an alternative route for the decay of the singlet excited state (S1) via the formation of an intramolecular charge transfer state (CT). The occurrence of IMR reduces the probability of the formation of a triplet state (T1) which could further react with molecular oxygen (3O2) to form cytotoxic reactive oxygen species, e.g., singlet oxygen (1O2). We demonstrate that the oxygen-related nature of the phototoxicity for BODIPY derivatives can be significantly reduced if a neutral molecular rotor is used as a probe. The studied neutral molecular rotor probe shows remarkably lower phototoxicity when compared with both the non-rotating BODIPY derivative and the cationic BODIPY-based molecular rotor in different light dosages and dye concentrations. It is also evident that the charge and localization of the fluorescent probe are as significant as the IMR in terms of the phototoxicity in a long-term live-cell imaging. Graphical abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.].
AB - For long-term live-cell fluorescence imaging and biosensing, it is crucial to work with a dye that has high fluorescence quantum yield and photostability without being detrimental to the cells. In this paper, we demonstrate that neutral boron-dipyrromethene (BODIPY)-based molecular rotors have great properties for high-light-dosage demanding live-cell fluorescence imaging applications that require repetitive illuminations. In molecular rotors, an intramolecular rotation (IMR) allows an alternative route for the decay of the singlet excited state (S1) via the formation of an intramolecular charge transfer state (CT). The occurrence of IMR reduces the probability of the formation of a triplet state (T1) which could further react with molecular oxygen (3O2) to form cytotoxic reactive oxygen species, e.g., singlet oxygen (1O2). We demonstrate that the oxygen-related nature of the phototoxicity for BODIPY derivatives can be significantly reduced if a neutral molecular rotor is used as a probe. The studied neutral molecular rotor probe shows remarkably lower phototoxicity when compared with both the non-rotating BODIPY derivative and the cationic BODIPY-based molecular rotor in different light dosages and dye concentrations. It is also evident that the charge and localization of the fluorescent probe are as significant as the IMR in terms of the phototoxicity in a long-term live-cell imaging. Graphical abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.].
KW - Boron-dipyrromethene (BODIPY)
KW - Intramolecular rotation (IMR)
KW - Phototoxicity
KW - Singlet oxygen
KW - Viability assay
U2 - 10.1007/s43630-022-00250-y
DO - 10.1007/s43630-022-00250-y
M3 - Article
C2 - 35796875
AN - SCOPUS:85133639112
SN - 1474-905X
VL - 21
SP - 1677
EP - 1687
JO - Photochemical and Photobiological Sciences
JF - Photochemical and Photobiological Sciences
IS - 9
ER -