A negative-solvatochromic fluorescent probe for visualizing intracellular distributions of fatty acid metabolites

Keiji Kajiwara, Hiroshi Osaki, Steffen Greßies, Keiko Kuwata, Ju Hyun Kim, Tobias Gensch, Yoshikatsu Sato, Frank Glorius, Shigehiro Yamaguchi, Masayasu Taki

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

39 Scopus citations

Abstract

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.

Original languageEnglish
Article number2533
JournalNature Communications
Volume13
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 2022

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