Luminescent Zn (II)-Based Nanoprobes: A Highly Symmetric Supramolecular Platform for Sensing of Biological Targets and Living Cell Imaging

Zinc (II) cation is an environmentally friendly metal, less expensive, easy to dispose of, and managed. Highly engineered symmetric systems can be built using zinc (II) atoms as the metal nodes of hybrid organic-inorganic supramolecular structures. In biological contexts, luminescent zinc-based nanoprobes are in growing demand. Specifically, they are currently employed to detect biologically and environmentally relevant analytes, in therapeutic drug delivery, and for bioimaging and diagnostic techniques monitoring aspects of cellular functions. This review will provide a systematic and consequential approach to zinc-based nanoprobes, including zinc-based MOFs and other zinc-based organized nanoparticles. A progression from detecting the biological target to the intracellular sensing/marking/carriage has been followed. A selection of significant cutting-edge articles collected in the last five years has been discussed, based on the structural pattern and sensing performance, with special notice to living cell bioimaging as the most targeted and desirable application.

Deletion of Dnm1 Gene In Mitochondria Lead To The Changes of Cell Dynamics and Energy Metabolism In Fission Yeast

Mitochondria are dynamic organelles that undergo cycles of fission and fusion. The major mitochondrial fission protein is dynamin-related Drp1 GTPase (Dnm1 in yeast). The effects of Dnm1 gene deletion on cell dynamics and energy metabolism during mitosis were studied in Schizosaccharomyces pombe. Dnm1 gene deletion can lead to slow growth, abnormal sporulation, abnormal number and length of interphase microtubules of Schizosaccharomyces pombe. The deletion of Dnm1 gene can also affect the spindle growth speed and growth time of metaphase and anaphase, and affect the spindle fluorescence intensity of prophase and metaphase. At the same time, the structure and dynamics of the spindle microtubules of Dnm1Δ are also different. The statistics of spindle length showed that there was delayed spindle fracture in Dnm1Δ Cells. Two different chromosome behaviors, normal and lagged, were observed by living cell imaging. The analysis of coenzymes, intermediates and energy in energy metabolism showed that there were some abnormalities after Dnm1 gene deletion, including coenzyme defects, intermediate metabolite defects and ATP production defects.

Synthesis of New AIEE-Active Chalcones for Imaging of Mitochondria in Living Cells and Zebrafish In Vivo

Fluorophores with aggregation-induced emission enhancement (AIEE) properties have attracted increasing interest in recent years. On the basis of our previous research, we successfully designed and synthesized eleven chalcones. Through an optical performance experiment, we confirmed that compounds 1–6 had obvious AIEE properties. As these AIEE molecules had excellent fluorescence properties and a large Stokes shift, we studied their application in living cell imaging, and the results showed that these compounds had low cytotoxicity and good biocompatibility at the experimental concentrations. More importantly, they could specifically label mitochondria. Subsequently, we selected zebrafish as experimental animals to explore the possibilities of these compounds in animal imaging. The fluorescence imaging of zebrafish showed that these AIEE molecules can enter the embryo and can be targeted to aggregate in the digestive tract, which provides a strong foundation for their practical application in the field of biological imaging. Compared with traditional fluorophores, these AIEE molecules have the advantages of possessing a small molecular weight and high flexibility. Therefore, they have excellent application prospects in the field of biological imaging. In addition, the findings of this study have very positive practical significance for the discovery of more AIEE molecules.

Zinc (II) and AIEgens: The “Clip Approach” for a Novel Fluorophore Family. A Review

Aggregation-induced emission (AIE) compounds display a photophysical phenomenon in which the aggregate state exhibits stronger emission than the isolated units. The common term of “AIEgens” was coined to describe compounds undergoing the AIE effect. Due to the recent interest in AIEgens, the search for novel hybrid organic–inorganic compounds with unique luminescence properties in the aggregate phase is a relevant goal. In this perspective, the abundant, inexpensive, and nontoxic d10 zinc cation offers unique opportunities for building AIE active fluorophores, sensing probes, and bioimaging tools. Considering the novelty of the topic, relevant examples collected in the last 5 years (2016–2021) through scientific production can be considered fully representative of the state-of-the-art. Starting from the simple phenomenological approach and considering different typological and chemical units and structures, we focused on zinc-based AIEgens offering synthetic novelty, research completeness, and relevant applications. A special section was devoted to Zn(II)-based AIEgens for living cell imaging as the novel technological frontier in biology and medicine.