Glucagon-Secreting Alpha Cell Selective Two-Photon Fluorescent Probe TP-α: For Live Pancreatic Islet Imaging

  • J Am Chem Soc. 2015 Apr 29;137(16):5355-62. doi: 10.1021/ja5115776.
Bikram Keshari Agrawalla ,  Yogeswari Chandran  1 ,  Wut-Hmone Phue ,  Sung-Chan Lee  1 ,  Yun-Mi Jeong  1 ,  Si Yan Diana Wan  1 ,  Nam-Young Kang  1 ,  Young-Tae Chang  1
Affiliations
  • 1. ‡Laboratory of Bio-imaging Probe Development, Singapore Bio-imaging Consortium, Agency of Science, Technology and Research, Singapore 138667, Singapore.
Abstract

Two-photon (TP) microscopy has an advantage for live tissue imaging which allows a deeper tissue penetration up to 1 mm comparing to one-photon (OP) microscopy. While there are several OP fluorescence probes in use for pancreatic islet imaging, TP imaging of selective cells in live islet still remains a challenge. Herein, we report the discovery of first TP live pancreatic islet imaging probe; TP-α (Two Photon-alpha) which can selectively stain glucagon secreting Alpha cells. Through fluorescent image based screening using three pancreatic cell lines, we discovered TP-α from a TP Fluorescent Dye library TPG (TP-Green). In vitro fluorescence test showed that TP-α have direct interaction and appear glucagon with a significant fluorescence increase, but not with Insulin or other Hormones/analytes. Finally, TP-α was successfully applied for 3D imaging of live islets by staining Alpha cell directly. The newly developed TP-α can be a practical tool to evaluate and identify live Alpha cells in terms of localization, distribution and availability in the intact islets.

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