Recent advances in living cell nucleic acid probes based on nanomaterials for early cancer diagnosis

The early diagnosis of cancer is vital for effective treatment and improved prognosis. Tumor biomarkers, which can be used for the early diagnosis, treatment, and prognostic evaluation of cancer, have emerged as a topic of intense research interest in recent years. Nucleic acid, as a type of tumor biomarker, contains vital genetic information, which is of great significance for the occurrence and development of cancer. Currently, living cell nucleic acid probes, which enable the in situ imaging and dynamic monitoring of nucleic acids, have become a rapidly developing field. This review focuses on living cell nucleic acid probes that can be used for the early diagnosis of tumors. We describe the fundamental design of the probe in terms of three units and focus on the roles of different nanomaterials in probe delivery.

Iron-Imprinted Single-Atomic Site Catalyst-Based Nanoprobe for Detection of Hydrogen Peroxide in Living Cells

Fe-based single-atomic site catalysts(SASCs),with the natural metalloproteases-like active site structure,have attracted widespread attention in biocatalysis and biosensing.Precisely,controlling the isolated single-atom Fe-N-C active site structure is crucial to improve the SASCs’performance.In this work,we use a facile ion-imprinting method(IIM)to synthesize isolated Fe-N-C single-atomic site catalysts(IIM-Fe-SASC).With this method,the ion-imprinting process can precisely control ion at the atomic level and form numerous well-defined single-atomic Fe-N-C sites.The IIM-Fe-SASC shows better peroxidase-like activities than that of non-imprinted references.Due to its excellent properties,IIM-Fe-SASC is an ideal nanoprobe used in the colorimetric biosensing of hydrogen peroxide(H_(2)O_(2)).Using IIM-Fe-SASC as the nanoprobe,in situ detection of H_(2)O_(2)generated from MDA-MB-231 cells has been successfully demonstrated with satisfactory sensitivity and specificity.This work opens a novel and easy route in designing advanced SASC and provides a sensitive tool for intracellular H_(2)O_(2)detection.

Research on Electric Impedance Spectroscopy of Living Cell Suspensions by a Chip with Microelectrodes

A microfabricated electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) chip with microelectrodes was developed.The substrate and the electrodes of the chip were made of glass and gold,respectively.The experimental results demonstrated that the EIS-chip could distinguish different solutions (physiological saline,culture medium,living cell suspension etc.) by scanning from 10Hz to 45kHz.A 6-element circuit model was used for fitting the real part and the imaginary part admittance curves of the living cell suspension.An actual circuit was also built and tested to verify the 6-element circuit model proposed.The micro-EIS chip has several advantages including the use of small sample volumes,high resolution and ease of operation.It shows good application prospects in the areas of cellular electrophysioiogy,drug screening and bio-sensors etc.

Lectin Conjugated Gold Nanoparticle-based Colorimetric Assay for Studying the Interactions of Antibiotic with Living Cell

The interactions of antibiotic with living cells were studied by lectin conjugated gold nanoparticles（GNPs） based colorimetric assay. Because of the high affinity of lectin for saccharides, the lectin conjugated GNPs are able to employ as indicators for monitoring the antibiotic induced changes of glycosyl complexes. The interactions of a well known antibiotic, tunicamycin, with two different cell lines, HeLa and SHG-44, were selected to establish this assay. In the presence of tunicamycin, the dose- and time-dependence on the decreasing of binding affinity of lectin conjugated GNPs with living cells were demonstrated by conventional microscopic and UV-Vis spectroscopic studies. The experimental result demonstrates that our approach can be used to identify antibiotic induced expression difference of glycosyl complexes on different cellular surfaces and determine drug activity quantitatively. For further confirming the capability of the GNP-based assay, the system was also studied by confocal laser scanning microscopy（CLSM） and classic flow cytometry（FCM） assay, and satisfactory results were obtained.

Real-time observation of integrin bending/unbending conformational changes on living cells

Introduction Integrins are a large family of adhesion molecules broadly expressed on the surface of a wide variety of cells as heterodimers. Binding of integrins to ligands provides not only mechanical anchorage for the cell to another cell or

The Electrochemical Impedance Behavior of the Living Cells Escherichia Coli

The semiconductive characteristics of clectron-transfrring proteins in living cells E coli was investigated by electrochemsical impedance spectroscopy(EIS). We found that the electrochemical impedance of living cells as a function of temprature followed the Arrhenius equation for semiconductors. This result shows a strong evidence to prove the semiconductive behavior of proteins

Water-soluble Cu30 nanoclusters as a click chemistry catalyst for living cell labeling via azide-alkyne cycloaddition

Cu(I)-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloadditions(CuAAC)have gained increasing interest in the selective labeling of living cells and organisms with biomolecules.However,their application is constrained either by the high cytotoxicity of Cu(I)ions or the low activity of CuAAC in the internal space of living cells.This paper reports the design of a novel Cu-based nanocatalyst,watersoluble thiolated Cu30 nanoclusters(NCs),for living cell labeling via CuAAC.The Cu30 NCs offer good biocompatibility,excellent stability,and scalable synthesis(e.g.,gram scale),which would facilitate potential commercial applications.By combining the highly localized Cu(I)active species on the NC surface and good structural stability,the Cu30 NCs exhibit superior catalytic activities for a series of Huisgen cycloaddition reactions with good recyclability.More importantly,the biocompatibility of the Cu30 NCs enables them to be a good catalyst for CuAAC,whereby the challenging labeling of living cells can be achieved via CuAAC on the cell membrane.This study sheds light on the facile synthesis of atomically precise Cu NCs,as well as the design of novel Cu NCs-based nanocatalysts for CuAAC in intracellular bioorthogonal applications.

DNA tetrahedron-based split aptamer probes for reliable imaging of ATP in living cells

Accurate detection and imaging of adenosine triphosphate(ATP)expression levels in living cells is of great value for understanding cell metabolism,physiological activities,and pathologic mechanisms.Here,we developed a DNA tetrahedron-based split aptamer probe(TD probe)for ratiometric fluorescence imaging of ATP in living cells.The TD probe is constructed by hybridizing two split ATP aptamer probes(Apt-a and Apt-b)to a DNA tetrahedron assembled by four DNA oligonucleotides(T1,T2,T3 and T4).In the presence of ATP,the TD probe will alter its structure from the open to closed state,thus bringing the separated donor and acceptor fluorophores into close proximity for high fluorescence resonance energy transfer(FRET)signals.The TD probe exhibits low cytotoxicity,efficient cell internalization and good biological stability.Moreover,based on the FRET“off”to“on”signal output mode,the TD probe can effectively avoid false-positive signals from complex biological matrices,which is significant for long-term reliable imaging in living cells.In addition,by changing the split aptamers attached to DNA tetrahedron,the proposed strategy may be extended for detecting various intracellular targets.Collectively,this strategy provides a valuable sensing platform for biomarkers analysis in living cells,thus having great potential for early clinical diagnosis and therapeutic evaluation.

Effect of Probe Lifting Height in Jumping Mode AFM for Living Cell Imaging

Atomic force microscopy(AFM)is one of the effective methods for imaging the morphological and physical properties of living cells in a near-physiological environment.However,several problems caused by the adhesion of living cells and extension of the cell membranes seriously affect the image quality during living cell imaging,hindering the study of living cells.In this work,jumping mode AFM imaging was used to image living cells at varied probe lifting heights to meet image quality requirements,and image quality related to the probe lifting height is discussed in detail.The jumping mode was divided into three parts based on the varying heights of the lifted probe,namely near-contact mode,half-jumping mode,and full-jumping mode,and the causes of their imaging drawbacks were analyzed.At an appropriate lifting height,the probe can be completely free from the influence of cell adhesion and self-excited oscillation,thus avoiding the occurrence of“trail”phenomena and invalid points in the imaging of living cells and improving the image quality.Additionally,this work provides a new approach to calculating the lateral force through the adhesion of trace and retrace scanning at a low height,which is important for studying the extension characteristics of the cell membrane.

Multiplexed stimulated emission depletion nanoscopy(mSTED)for 5-color live-cell long-term imaging of organelle interactome

Stimulated emission depletion microscopy(STED)holds great potential in biological science applications,especially in studying nanoscale subcellular structures.However,multi-color STED imaging in live-cell remains challenging due to the limited excitation wavelengths and large amount of laser radiation.Here,we develop a multiplexed live-cell STED method to observe more structures simultaneously with limited photo-bleaching and photo-cytotoxicity.By separating live-cell fluorescent probes with similar spectral properties using phasor analysis,our method enables five-color live-cell STED imaging and reveals long-term interactions between different subcellular structures.The results here provide an avenue for understanding the complex and delicate interactome of subcellular structures in live-cell.

Recent advances in optical techniques for dynamically probing cellular mechanobiology

Cellular mechanotransduction characterized by the transformation of mechanical stimuli into biochemical signals,represents a pivotal and complex process underpinning a multitude of cellular functionalities.This process is integral to diverse biological phenomena,including embryonic development,cell migration,tissue regeneration,and disease pathology,particularly in the context of cancer metastasis and cardiovascular diseases.Despite the profound biological and clinical significance of mechanotransduction,our understanding of this complex process remains incomplete.The recent development of advanced optical techniques enables in-situ force measurement and subcellular manipulation from the outer cell membrane to the organelles inside a cell.In this review,we delved into the current state-of-the-art techniques utilized to probe cellular mechanobiology,their principles,applications,and limitations.We mainly examined optical methodologies to quantitatively measure the mechanical properties of cells during intracellular transport,cell adhesion,and migration.We provided an introductory overview of various conventional and optical-based techniques for probing cellular mechanics.These techniques have provided into the dynamics of mechanobiology,their potential to unravel mechanistic intricacies and implications for therapeutic intervention.

A highly sensitive DNA-AIEgen-based ＂turn-on＂ fluorescence chemosensor for amplification analysis of Hg^2+ ions in real samples and living cells

Functional nucleic acids(FNAs)-based biosensors have shown great potential in heavy metal ions detection due to their low-cost and easy to operate merits. However, in most FNAs based fluorescence probes, the ingenious designs of double-labeled(fluorophore and quencher group) DNA sequence, not only bring the annoyance of organic synthesis, but also restrict its use as a robust biosensor in practical duties. In this paper, we design a simple AIEgens functional nucleic acids(AFNAs) probe which consists of only fluorogen but no quencher group. With the help of duplex-specific nuclease(DSN) enzyme based target recycling, high fluorescence signal and superior sensitivity towards Hg^(2+) are achieved. This robust assay allows for sensitive and selective detection of Hg^(2+) in real water samples and mapping of intracellular Hg^(2+), without double-labeling of oligonucleotide with a dye-quencher pair, nor the multiple assay steps.

A selective and sensitive off–on probe for palladium and its application for living cell imaging

A new rhodamine B derivative T1 has been rationally synthesized and displayed selective Pd（Ⅱ）-amplified absorbance and fluorescence emission above 540 nm in methanol-water. Upon the addition of Pd（Ⅱ）, the spirolactam ring was unfolded and a 1：1 metal-ligand complex formed, which can be used for ＇＇naked-eyes＂ detection. In addition, fluorescence imaging experiments of Pd^（2＋） in HepG2 living cells showed its valuable application in biological systems.

CAPPh A Cytoskeleton-Based Localization Assay Reports Protein-Protein Interaction in Living Cells by Fluorescence Microscopy

Dear EditorProbing protein-protein interaction has become a routine practice in the post genomic era. Multiple in vitro or in vivo techniques have been developed to detect or report direct or indirect interactions of functionally related proteins （Lalonde et al., 2008）. These techniques sometimes are technically challenging, however, because the readout would demand sophisticated detectors and/or complicated calculations. Besides, a common drawback of many of these techniques is they can render inherent false positives to various degrees so that an interaction often cannot be judged unambiguously.

A unique two-photon fluorescent probe based on ICT mechanism for imaging palladium in living cells and mice

Palladium(0)as one of the vital transition metals,is employed in numerous industries,such as drug synthesis,aerospace high-tech field and automobile industry.When the Pd(0)enter into the body,it will bind with thiol-containing amino acids,DNA,RNA,and other biomolecules damaging to human health.Thus,developing a novel tool for monitoring and imaging of Pd(0)in vivo is very urgent.In the work,based on a intramolecular charge transfer(ICT)mechanism a two-photon fluorescent probe NIPd had been designed and synthesized for the recognition Pd(0).In vitro experiments data displayed that probe NIPd exhibited a 13-fold fluorescent increase for Pd(0)in 30 min in the aqueous solution with a detection limit of 16 nmol/L.It also showed the outstanding selectivity and antijamming performance.More importantly,NIPd could be served as a two-photon fluorescent probe for real-time monitoring Pd(0)in living cells and mice.

Ratiometric and selective two-photon fluorescent probe based on PET-ICT for imaging Zn^(2+)in living cells and tissues

A two-photon fluorescent probe TPZn was developed for specific ratiometric imaging Zn2＋ in living cells and tissues. Significant ratiometric fluorescence change was based on photoinduced electron transfer and intramolecular charge transfer. The synthetic method of TPZn was simple. It was successfully used to selectively image Zn2＋ based on the higher binding affinity for Zn2＋ than for Cd2＋. TPZn was easily loaded into the living cell and tissues with high membrane permeability in a complex biological environment. TPZn could clearly visualize endogenous Zn2＋ by TP ratiometric imaging in hippocampal slices at a depth of 120 μm. Thus, TPZn is a useful tool to image of Zn2＋ in living cells and tissues without interference from Cd2＋.

A 1,8-naphthalimide-derived turn-on fluorescent probe for imaging lysosomal nitric oxide in living cells

Nitric oxide has played an important role in many physiological and pathological processes as a kind of important gas signal molecules. In this work, a new fluorescent probe LysoNO-Naph for detecting NO in lysosomes based on 1,8-naphthalimide was reported. LysoNO-Naph has sub-groups of o-phenylene- diamine as a NO reaction site and 4-（2-aminoethyl）-morpholine as a lysosome-targetable group. This probe exhibited good selectivity and high sensitivity （4.57 μmol/L） toward NO in a wide pH range from 4 to 12. Furthermore, LysoNO-Naph can be used for imaging NO in lysosomes in living cells.

Living cell for drug delivery

The living cells have been emerged as useful platforms for drug delivery due to their advantages of good liquidity,stability,and low immunogenicity.In this review,we summarized the development of living cells-based drug delivery systems.The drug loading methods,applications,and advantages of living cell drug delivery systems were summarized.Different living cells for drug delivery,the mechanisms of action,therapeutic applications,as well as main features were summarized and highlighted.The recent research progress and challenges were discussed.The future directions and prospects were proposed.

Single Molecule Imaging in Living Cell with Optical Method

Significance, difficult, international developing actuality and our completed works for single molecules imaging in living cell with optical method are described respectively. Additionally we give out some suggestions for the technology development further.

Two-dimensional coordination polymer-based nanosensor for sensitive and reliable nucleic acids detection in living cells

A reliable and sensitive strategy which can assess nucleic acid levels in living cells would be essential for fundamental research of biomedical applications. Some nanomaterial-based fluorescence biosensors recently developed for detecting nucleic acids, however, are often with expensive, complicated and timeconsuming preparation process. Here, by using a facile bottom-up synthesis method, a two-dimensional(2 D) coordination polymer(CP) nanosheet, [Cu(tz)](Htz = 1,2,4-triazole), was successfully prepared after optimizing reaction conditions. These ultrathin CP nanosheets with thickness of 4.7 ± 1.1 nm could readily form nanosensors by assembly with DNA probes, which exhibited a low limit of detection(LOD)for p53 DNA fragment as 144 pmol/L. Furthermore, by integrating [Cu(tz)] nanosheets with hybridization chain reaction(HCR) probes, mi R-21, one kind of micro RNA upregulated in many cancer cells, can be sensitively detected with a LOD of 100 pmol/L and monitored in living cells, giving consistent results with those obtained by quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction(q RT-PCR) analysis.Thus [Cu(tz)] nanosheets, which not only possess much better nucleic acids sensing performance than bulk cystals, but also exhibit nucleic acid delivery functions, could be used as a novel nanoplatform in biomedical imaging and sensing applications.