Multimodal Benefits of a Bimodal Boron Difluoride Complex: Decrypting the Ferroptosis-Induced Micropolarity-Alteration, LD-ER Intimacy, and Steatosis Monitoring

Communication between subcellular organelles is crucial for a synchronized cellular response which drives the search for chemical tools to simultaneously visualize dual organelles to unveil these dynamic interactions. A polarity-sensitive dual organelle targeting dioxaborine derivative, namely DOBEL, which stains lipid droplets (LDs) and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) simultaneously is introduced. This report is the first to demonstrate how the intrinsic difference in micropolarity drives the visualization of LDs in the green channel while ER in the red channel involves a single probe. The in situ emission spectra inside these organelles allow polarity quantification, further leading to deciphering the unique microenvironments in different cell lines. Exploiting ratiometric fluorescence imaging revealed how the micropolarity inside both LDs and ER alters during Ferroptosis. Altogether, DOBEL can be used as a superior imaging tool for monitoring LD-ER interaction during regular status and ferroptosis-related diseases in living cells.