Asymmetric Heptamethine Quinocyanines with Large Stokes Shifts for High-Fidelity Imaging of Mitochondrial Viscosity and NAFLD

Key Points

• The research aims to develop new fluorescent dyes that can accurately measure mitochondrial viscosity and its implications in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).
• Designed and synthesized two asymmetric heptamethine quinocyanine dyes (QCy7-1 and QCy7-2).
• Evaluated their fluorescence properties, particularly viscosity-activated fluorescence.
• Conducted imaging experiments to assess mitochondrial viscosity in cellular models.
• QCy7-1 shows significant viscosity-activated fluorescence with a Stokes shift of 130 nm.
• Imaging with QCy7-1 effectively correlates mitochondrial viscosity changes with NAFLD states.
• QCy7-2 provides distinct imaging properties, enhancing the detection of mitochondrial dynamics.