Membrane-Penetrating Carbon Quantum Dots for Imaging Nucleic Acid Structures in Live Organisms
Membrane-Penetrating Carbon Quantum Dots for Imaging Nucleic Acid Structures in Live Organisms
复制标题
用于活体生物体核酸结构成像的穿膜碳量子点
DOI：
10.1002/anie.201903005
复制
发表时间：
2019-05-20
影响因子：
16.6
通讯作者：
Zhang, Zhongping
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Han, Guangmei;Zhao, Jun;Zhang, Zhongping
活细胞中DNA和RNA结构的动力学对于理解细胞行为（如转录活性、蛋白质表达、细胞凋亡和遗传性疾病）非常重要，但在活生物体中实时监测具有挑战性。困难主要是由于缺乏能够区分DNA和RNA的光稳定成像探针，更重要的是，它们能够跨越从细胞/细胞器到组织/器官水平的多种膜屏障。我们报道了一种阳离子碳量子点（cQD）探针的发现，该探针在与活细胞中的双链DNA和单链RNA结合时发出光谱可区分的荧光，从而能够实时监测DNA和RNA的定位和运动。一个令人惊讶的发现是，探针可以穿透各种类型的生物屏障体外和体内。结合标准显微镜和超分辨率显微镜，光稳定cQDs可以在细胞分裂和秀丽隐杆线虫（C. elegans）生长过程中对染色质和核仁进行延时成像。
The dynamics of DNA and RNA structures in live cells are important for understanding cell behaviors, such as transcription activity, protein expression, cell apoptosis, and hereditary disease, but are challenging to monitor in live organisms in real time. The difficulty is largely due to the lack of photostable imaging probes that can distinguish between DNA and RNA, and more importantly, are capable of crossing multiple membrane barriers ranging from the cell/organelle to the tissue/organ level. We report the discovery of a cationic carbon quantum dot (cQD) probe that emits spectrally distinguishable fluorescence upon binding with double-stranded DNA and single-stranded RNA in live cells, thereby enabling real-time monitoring of DNA and RNA localization and motion. A surprising finding is that the probe can penetrate through various types of biological barriers invitro and invivo. Combined with standard and super-resolution microscopy, photostable cQDs allow time-lapse imaging of chromatin and nucleoli during cell division and Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) growth.