Skip to main content
ARS Home » Plains Area » Houston, Texas » Children's Nutrition Research Center » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #342570
Title: Quantitative real-time imaging of glutathione

Author
item JIANG, XIQIAN - Baylor College Of Medicine
item CHEN, JIANWEI - Baylor College Of Medicine
item BAJIC, ALEKSANDAR - Baylor College Of Medicine
item ZHANG, CHENGWEI - Baylor College Of Medicine
item SONG, XIANZHOU - Baylor College Of Medicine
item CARROLL, SHAINA - Baylor College Of Medicine
item CAI, ZHAO-LIN - Baylor College Of Medicine
item TANG, MEILING - Baylor College Of Medicine
item XUE, MINGSHAN - Baylor College Of Medicine
item CHENG, NINGHUE - Children'S Nutrition Research Center (CNRC)

Submitted to: Nature Communications
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/23/2017
Publication Date: 5/23/2017
Citation: Jiang, X., Chen, J., Bajic, A., Zhang, C., Song, X., Carroll, S.L., Cai, Z., Tang, M., Xue, M., Cheng, N. 2017. Quantitative real-time imaging of glutathione. Nature Communications. doi:10.1038/ncommons16087.

Interpretive Summary: Oxidation and reduction conditions in the cell, also called redox homeostasis, are important for cell function. Changes in those conditions are related to development of diseases. The levels of glutathione (GSH) within the cell and the body are indicators of oxidation and reduction conditions. However, it has been difficult to measure the amount and the real-time change of GSH in the cell. In this study, scientists from Baylor College of Medicine and Children Nutrition Research Center invented a new tool, a chemical sensor that can bind to GSH and change its color. By measuring the changes of the color, the scientists can determine the oxidation and reduction condition of the live cell in a real-time fashion. This newly developed technology can be widely used in measuring and monitoring oxidative stress in the cell and tissues under physiological and pathological processes.

Technical Abstract: Glutathione plays many important roles in biological processes; however, the dynamic changes of glutathione concentrations in living cells remain largely unknown. Here, we report a reversible reaction-based fluorescent probe—designated as RealThiol (RT)—that can quantitatively monitor the real-time glutathione dynamics in living cells. Using RT, we observe enhanced antioxidant capability of activated neurons and dynamic glutathione changes during ferroptosis. RT is thus a versatile tool that can be used for both confocal microscopy and flow cytometry based high-throughput quantification of glutathione levels in single cells. We envision that this new glutathione probe will enable opportunities to study glutathione dynamics and transportation and expand our understanding of the physiological and pathological roles of glutathione in living cells.