title: A turn-on fluorescent iron complex and its cellular uptake.
abstract: In the treatment of chronic iron overload disorders, ligands capable of complexing so-called "labile" (nonprotein bound) Fe are required to enter iron-loaded cells, sequester excess Fe, and then exit the cell (and the body) as an intact Fe complex. Despite the emergence of several ligand families that show high activity in mobilizing intracellular Fe, the mechanism and the locations of these subcellular labile Fe pools are still poorly understood. Our previous studies have unearthed a class of heterocyclic hydrazine-based chelators (e.g., benzoyl picolinoyl hydrazine, H(2)BPH) that show excellent activity at mobilizing Fe from Fe-loaded cells. Herein, we have grafted a fluorescent tag (rhodamine B) onto H(2)BPH to generate a ligand (L(1)) that is nonfluorescent in its uncomplexed form but becomes strongly fluorescent in complex with Fe(III). The free ligand and its 1:2 Fe complex [Fe(III)(L(1))(2)](3+) have both been fully characterized spectroscopically and with X-ray crystallography. Confocal fluorescent microscopy of HeLa cells incubated with [Fe(III)(L(1))(2)](3+) shows that the complex rapidly enters HeLa cells and localizes within endosomes/lysosomes.
authors.affiliation: School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia 4072.
authors.forename: Jy D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Chartres
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Busby
authors.forename: Mark J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Riley
authors.forename: Jason J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.forename: Paul V
authors.initials: PV
authors.lastname: Bernhardt
mesh_terms: D002463:Cell Membrane Permeability; D018360:Crystallography, X-Ray; D011992:Endosomes / Q000378:metabolism; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D006834:Hydrazines / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D007502:Iron Chelating Agents / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D008024:Ligands; D008247:Lysosomes / Q000378:metabolism; D008958:Models, Molecular; D012235:Rhodamines / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D006834:Hydrazines; D007502:Iron Chelating Agents; D008024:Ligands; D012235:Rhodamines; C029773:rhodamine B