Lipid droplets targeting fluorescent probes with AIE properties for the diagnosis of fatty liver tissue

Abstract

Lipid droplets (LDs), as essential organelles within cells, play crucial roles in various physiological and pathological processes. Therefore, the precise detection of LDs in living system is of great importance for biomedical research. In this paper, a series of fluorescent probes WJ1–WJ4 were constructed by introducing various electron-donating or electron-withdrawing groups into coumarin derivatives for visualizing LDs. WJ1–WJ4 exhibited typical aggregation-induced emission (AIE) characteristics and also possessed desirable lipophilicity, high photostability, and low cytotoxicity. ​Moreover, it was found that probe WJ1 could ultrafast penetrate cells (∼10 s) and specifically target LDs in live cells by wash-free procedure, which was capable of monitoring the accumulation and dynamical changes of LDs in living cells. Importantly, WJ1–WJ4 demonstrated the ability to distinguish fatty liver through tissues imaging. The excellent image performance renders these LDs-probes as powerful tools for early diagnosis of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).