Lipid droplets (LDs) are essential organelle in most eukaryotes, and tracking intracellular LDs dynamics using synthetic small molecules is crucial for biological studies. However, only a limited number of fluorescent markers that satisfy all requirements, such as the selective staining of LDs, high photostability, and sufficient biocompatibility, have been developed. Herein, we report a series of donor-p-acceptor dyes based on the thiophene-containing fused polycyclic scaffold [1]benzothieno[3,2-<i>b</i>][1]benzothiophene (BTBT), in which either or both thiophene rings are oxidized into thiophene-<i>S</i>,<i>S</i>-dioxide to form an electron-accepting building block. Among these dyes, LAQ1 satisfied all the aforementioned requirements, and allowed us capturing ultra-small LDs on the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membrane by stimulation emission depletion (STED) microscopy with a super-resolution below the diffraction limit of light. Moreover, the extremely high photostability of LAQ1 enabled recording the lipolysis of LDs and the concomitant lipogenesis as well as long-term trajectory analysis of micro LDs at the single particle level in living cells.
Fluorescent small-molecule agonists as follicle-stimulating hormone receptor imaging tools