Visualization and Comparison of the Level of Apurinic/Apyrimidinic Endonuclease 1 in Live Normal/Cancerous and Neuron Cells with a Fluorescent Nanoprobe

Peng Lu; Xiangjian Cao; Jinghui Zheng; Ying Sun; Ziyu Tang; Meiping Zhao

doi:10.3390/molecules28093935

Molecules (May 2023)

Visualization and Comparison of the Level of Apurinic/Apyrimidinic Endonuclease 1 in Live Normal/Cancerous and Neuron Cells with a Fluorescent Nanoprobe

Peng Lu,
Xiangjian Cao,
Jinghui Zheng,
Ying Sun,
Ziyu Tang,
Meiping Zhao

Affiliations

Peng Lu: Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences and MOE Key Laboratory of Bioorganic Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
Xiangjian Cao: Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences and MOE Key Laboratory of Bioorganic Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
Jinghui Zheng: Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences and MOE Key Laboratory of Bioorganic Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
Ying Sun: Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences and MOE Key Laboratory of Bioorganic Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
Ziyu Tang: Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences and MOE Key Laboratory of Bioorganic Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
Meiping Zhao: Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences and MOE Key Laboratory of Bioorganic Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28093935
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 28, no. 9
p. 3935

Abstract

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As a major apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease and a redox signaling protein in human cells, APE1 plays a crucial role in cellular function and survival. The relationship between alterations of APE1 expression and subcellular localization and the initiation, development and treatment of various cancers has received extensive attention. However, comparing the in-vivo activity of APE1 in normal and cancerous breast live cells remains challenging due to the low efficiency of commonly used liposome transfection methods in delivering DNA substrate probes into human normal breast epithelial cells (MCF-10A). In this work, we develop a DNA/RNA hybrid-based small magnetic fluorescent nanoprobe (25 ± 3 nm) that can be taken up by various live cells under magnetic transfection. The D0/R-nanoprobe demonstrates an outstanding specificity toward APE1 and strong resistance to the cellular background interference. Using this nanoprobe, we are not only able to visualize the intracellular activity of APE1 in breast ductal carcinoma (MCF-7) live cells, but also demonstrate the APE1 activity in MCF-10A live cells for the first time. The method is then extended to observe the changes in APE1 levels in highly metabolically active neuroendocrine cells under normal conditions and severe attacks by reactive oxygen species in real-time. The fluorescent nanoprobe provides a useful tool for studying the dynamic changes of intracellular APE1 in normal or cancerous live cells. It also displays the potential for visible and controllable release of miRNA drugs within live cells for therapeutic purposes.

Published in Molecules

ISSN: 1420-3049 (Online)
Publisher: MDPI AG
Country of publisher: Switzerland
LCC subjects: Science: Chemistry: Organic chemistry
Website: http://www.mdpi.com/journal/molecules

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