Journal article
A Maleimide-functionalized Tetraphenylethene for Measuring and Imaging Unfolded Proteins in Cells
S Zhang, M Liu, LYF Tan, Q Hong, ZL Pow, TC Owyong, S Ding, WWH Wong, Y Hong
Chemistry an Asian Journal | WILEY-V C H VERLAG GMBH | Published : 2019
Abstract
Collapse of the protein homeostasis (proteostasis) can lead to accumulation and aggregation of unfolded proteins, which has been found to associate with a number of disease conditions including neurodegenerative diseases, diabetes and inflammation. Here we report a maleimide-functionalized tetraphenylethene (TPE)-derivatized fluorescent dye, TPE-NMI, which shows fluorescence turn-on property upon reacting with unfolded proteins in vitro and in live cells under proteostatic stress conditions. The level of unfolded proteins can be measured by flow cytometry and visualized with confocal microscopy.
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Grants
Awarded by Australian Research Council
Funding Acknowledgements
We thank Dr Peter Lock and LIMS BioImaging Platform, La Trobe University for the technical support and access to the confocal microscope and flow cytometer. We also thank A/Prof Danny Hatters from The University of Melbourne for helpful discussion. This work was supported by grants to Y.H. (Australian Research Council DE170100058 and Rebecca L. Cooper Medical Research Foundation PG2018043). WWHW acknowledges the Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellowship Scheme (FT130100500) and the ARC Centre of Excellence in Exciton Science (CE170100026) for supporting this work.