2020年5月，药学院教工党支部佟晓永同志课题组在《Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry》发表题为“Multifunctional aggregation-based fluorescent probe for visualizing intracellular calcium dynamic fluctuations”的研究论文。                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

Ca²⁺是细胞中重要的第二信使，在信号传导及生命活动中扮演着极其重要的角色，许多重要的疾病状态，如心力衰竭、高血压、糖尿病、癌症和阿尔茨海默病等都与Ca²⁺信号异常相关。实时监测细胞内Ca²⁺变化水平能够直观反应细胞的状态。Ca²⁺的选择性和高效性检测是科研工作者一直以来的重点研究方向，传统的检测方法有原子吸收光谱法，离子选择性电极检测法及核磁共振成像检测法，但是这些方法都需要繁琐的准备过程及昂贵的检测设备，荧光探针检测法由于其方便、经济、高效的特点备受关注。目前在售的有Fluo-3、Fluo-4、Calcium green-1和Indo-1等，但是由于这些探针对Ca²⁺选择性受到Mg²⁺的干扰，其检测结果往往具有假阳性。Xu等人报道了一种新型的Ca²⁺探针化合物CPM，该探针对Ca²⁺具有高选择性，但由于其水溶性和光漂白性较差限制了其进一步推广应用。基于此，佟晓永同志和胡萍萍同志带领学生共同开发了一种多功能聚集型荧光探针“CPM @ curcumin NPs (CPM @ Cur NPs)”用于观察细胞内钙离子的动态波动。CPM @ Cur NPs具有更强的荧光和更少的背景干扰，在体内外Ca²⁺成像应用方面具有潜在的应用价值。同时表面带有羧基的CPM @ Cur NP也可以进一步与特定的官能团结合，并应用于靶向生物学测量和细胞成像。该方法为合成高亮度NPs开辟了新途径，在复合传感和细胞内成像中具有很好的应用前景。

                           图1 a CPM NP的合成途径和体内生物成像。b将CPM和姜黄素共包封，并获得CPM @ Cur NP用于细胞内Ca²⁺成像。

该工作得到国家自然基金、国家自然科学基金青年基金、重庆市基础与前沿研究计划、中央高校基本科研业务费等项目支持。

责任编辑：吴彤彤