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Visualization of Mitochondria During Embryogenesis in Zebrafish by Aggregation-Induced Emission Molecules

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Abstract

Purpose

Aggregation-induced emission (AIE) molecules have been widely utilized for fluorescence imaging in many biomedical applications, benefited from large Stokes shift, high quantum yield, good biocompatibility, and resistance to photobleaching. And visualization of mitochondria is almost investigated in vitro and ex vivo, but in vivo study of mitochondria is more essential for systematic biological research, especially during embryogenesis. Therefore, suitable and time-saving alternatives with simple operation based on AIE molecules are urgently needed compared with traditional transgenic approach.

Procedures

Five tetraphenylethylene isoquinolinium (TPE-IQ)-based molecules with AIE characteristics and their ability of mitochondrial visualization in vitro and in vivo and mitochondrial tracking during embryogenesis on zebrafish model were investigated. The biosafety of these AIE molecules was also evaluated systematically in vitro and in vivo.

Results

All these five AIE molecules could image mitochondria in vitro with good biocompatibility. In them, TPE-IQ1 exhibited excellent imaging quality for in vivo visualization and tracking of mitochondria during the 4-day embryogenesis in zebrafish, in comparison with the conventional transgenic fluorescent protein. Furthermore, TPE-IQ1 could visualize mitochondrial damage induced by chemicals in real time on 24-h post fertilization (hpf) embryos.

Conclusions

This study indicated TPE-IQ-based AIE molecules had the potential for mitochondrial imaging and tracking during embryogenesis and mitochondrial damage visualization in vivo.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Weijun Pan from the Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health, CAS for the kind support.

Funding

This study was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21788102, 81725009, 82030049, 32027802), the National Key R&D Program of China (2021YFE0108300, 2021YFA1101700), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities: 2021FZZX002-05.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nuclear Medicine and PET Center, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, 31009, Zhejiang, China

    Peili Cen, Chunyi Cui, Yan Zhong, Youyou Zhou, Xiaoyun Luo, Le Xue, Hong Zhang & Mei Tian

  2. Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging of Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 31009, Zhejiang, China

    Peili Cen, Chunyi Cui, Yan Zhong, Youyou Zhou, Xiaoyun Luo, Le Xue, Hong Zhang & Mei Tian

  3. Key of Laboratory of Medical Molecular Imaging of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou, 31009, Zhejiang, China

    Peili Cen, Chunyi Cui, Yan Zhong, Youyou Zhou, Xiaoyun Luo, Le Xue, Hong Zhang & Mei Tian

  4. State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Luminescence From Molecular Aggregates, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510641, Guangdong, China

    Zhiming Wang

  5. Women’s Hospital and Institute of Genetics, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, 310058, Zhejiang, China

    Pengfei Xu

  6. Molecular Imaging Center, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201203, China

    Zhen Cheng

  7. Department of Chemistry and the Tsinghua Center for Frontier Polymer Research, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China

    Yen Wei

  8. College of Chemical & Biological Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310027, Zhejiang, China

    Qinggang He

  9. College of Biomedical Engineering & Instrument Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310014, Zhejiang, China

    Hong Zhang

  10. Key Laboratory for Biomedical Engineering of Ministry of Education, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310014, Zhejiang, China

    Hong Zhang

Authors
  1. Peili Cen
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  2. Chunyi Cui
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  3. Yan Zhong
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  4. Youyou Zhou
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  5. Zhiming Wang
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  6. Pengfei Xu
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  7. Xiaoyun Luo
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  8. Le Xue
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  9. Zhen Cheng
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  10. Yen Wei
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  11. Qinggang He
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  12. Hong Zhang
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  13. Mei Tian
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Contributions

In this work, Peili Cen, Hong Zhang, and Mei Tian conceived the study and coordinated the experiments. Peili Cen performed and participated in the whole experiment and wrote the manuscript. Chunyi Cui participated in zebrafish experiments. Yan Zhong and Youyou Zhou participated in cell experiments. Zhiming Wang provided materials. Pengfei Xu provided zebrafish line and experimental conditions. Chunyi Cui, Xiaoyun Luo, and Le Xue participated in the data analysis. Zhen Cheng, Yen Wei, and Qinggang He gave suggestions and modified the manuscript in the preparation and revision. And all authors agree with the content of manuscript.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Hong Zhang or Mei Tian.

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Cen, P., Cui, C., Zhong, Y. et al. Visualization of Mitochondria During Embryogenesis in Zebrafish by Aggregation-Induced Emission Molecules. Mol Imaging Biol 24, 1007–1017 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11307-022-01752-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11307-022-01752-y

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