TY - JOUR
T1 - A negative-solvatochromic fluorescent probe for visualizing intracellular distributions of fatty acid metabolites
AU - Kajiwara, Keiji
AU - Osaki, Hiroshi
AU - Greßies, Steffen
AU - Kuwata, Keiko
AU - Kim, Ju Hyun
AU - Gensch, Tobias
AU - Sato, Yoshikatsu
AU - Glorius, Frank
AU - Yamaguchi, Shigehiro
AU - Taki, Masayasu
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Author(s).
PY - 2022/12
Y1 - 2022/12
N2 - Metabolic distribution of fatty acid to organelles is an essential biological process for energy homeostasis as well as for the maintenance of membrane integrity, and the metabolic pathways are strictly regulated in response to environmental stimuli. Herein, we report a fluorescent fatty acid probe, which bears an azapyrene dye that changes its absorption and emission features depending on the microenvironment polarity of the organelle into which it is transported. Owing to the environmental sensitivity of this dye, the distribution of the metabolically incorporated probe in non-polar lipid droplets, medium-polarity membranes, and the polar aqueous regions, can be visualized in different colors. Based on density scatter plots of the fluorophore, we demonstrate that the degradation of triacylglycerols in lipid droplets occurs predominantly via lipolysis rather than lipophagy in nutrition-starved hepatocytes. This tool can thus be expected to significantly advance our understanding of the lipid metabolism in living organisms.
AB - Metabolic distribution of fatty acid to organelles is an essential biological process for energy homeostasis as well as for the maintenance of membrane integrity, and the metabolic pathways are strictly regulated in response to environmental stimuli. Herein, we report a fluorescent fatty acid probe, which bears an azapyrene dye that changes its absorption and emission features depending on the microenvironment polarity of the organelle into which it is transported. Owing to the environmental sensitivity of this dye, the distribution of the metabolically incorporated probe in non-polar lipid droplets, medium-polarity membranes, and the polar aqueous regions, can be visualized in different colors. Based on density scatter plots of the fluorophore, we demonstrate that the degradation of triacylglycerols in lipid droplets occurs predominantly via lipolysis rather than lipophagy in nutrition-starved hepatocytes. This tool can thus be expected to significantly advance our understanding of the lipid metabolism in living organisms.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85129565410&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1038/s41467-022-30153-6
DO - 10.1038/s41467-022-30153-6
M3 - Article
C2 - 35534485
AN - SCOPUS:85129565410
SN - 2041-1723
VL - 13
JO - Nature Communications
JF - Nature Communications
IS - 1
M1 - 2533
ER -