Quantitative real-time imaging of glutathione

  • Nat Commun. 2017 Jul 13;8:16087. doi: 10.1038/ncomms16087.
Xiqian Jiang  1 ,  Jianwei Chen  1 ,  Aleksandar Bajić  2  3 ,  Chengwei Zhang  1 ,  Xianzhou Song  1 ,  Shaina L Carroll  1  4 ,  Zhao-Lin Cai  5  6 ,  Meiling Tang  1 ,  Mingshan Xue  5  6  7 ,  Ninghui Cheng  2  8 ,  Christian P Schaaf  3  7 ,  Feng Li  9  10 ,  Kevin R MacKenzie  10  11 ,  Allan Chris M Ferreon  1 ,  Fan Xia  7 ,  Meng C Wang  7  12 ,  Mirjana Maletić-Savatić  2  3  10 ,  Jin Wang  1  9  10
Affiliations
  • 1. Department of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030, USA.
  • 2. Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030, USA.
  • 3. Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Texas Children's Hospital, Houston, Texas 77030, USA.
  • 4. Department of Chemistry, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77030, USA.
  • 5. Department of Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030, USA.
  • 6. The Cain Foundation Laboratories, Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Texas Children's Hospital, Houston, Texas 77030, USA.
  • 7. Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030, USA.
  • 8. USDA/ARS Children Nutrition Research Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030, USA.
  • 9. Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030, USA.
  • 10. Center for Drug Discovery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030, USA.
  • 11. Department of Pathology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030, USA.
  • 12. Huffington Center on Aging, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030, USA.
PMID: 28703127 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms16087
Abstract

Glutathione plays many important roles in biological processes; however, the dynamic changes of glutathione concentrations in living cells remain largely unknown. Here, we report a reversible reaction-based fluorescent probe-designated as RealThiol (RT)-that can quantitatively monitor the real-time glutathione dynamics in living cells. Using RT, we observe enhanced antioxidant capability of activated neurons and dynamic glutathione changes during Ferroptosis. RT is thus a versatile tool that can be used for both confocal microscopy and flow cytometry based high-throughput quantification of glutathione levels in single cells. We envision that this new glutathione probe will enable opportunities to study glutathione dynamics and transportation and expand our understanding of the physiological and pathological roles of glutathione in living cells.

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