title: A novel approach for fluorescent visualization of glycyrrhetic acid on a cell with a quantum dot.
abstract: Glycyrrhetic acid (GA), a pentacyclic triterpenoid derivative obtained from hydrolysis of glycyrrhizic acid, was found to have synergistic anti-asthmatic effects with the β2-adrenergic receptor (β2AR) agonist via the β2AR-mediated pathway. This study visualized the location of GA on a human cell expressing β2AR via chemical biological approaches. A CdTe/ZnS quantum dot modified with an alkynyl group (QD-AL) was first synthesized, and an azide-terminal GA (ATGA) was also prepared. The QD-AL was used for fluorescence visualization of the distribution of GA on human embryonic kidney 293 cells expressing fusion β2AR (HEK293-β2AR) through the "click reaction" between QD-AL and ATGA. The average size of the QD-AL nanoparticle was about 10 nm, and its fluorescent emission wavelength was 620 nm. The location of GA on the HEK293-β2AR cell membrane can be visualized by the click reaction (between QD-AL and ATGA). The ability of QD-AL targeting to ATGA on the cell membrane of a HEK293-β2AR cell was further investigated using both confocal laser-scanning microscopy and a cellular uptake-inhibition assay. The results reveal that QD-AL can recognize ATGA on the cell membrane through the click reaction, which provides a new approach for visualizing the location of GA on the cell in an indirect way, and it can be applied to explore the synergistic anti-asthmatic mechanism of GA with β2AR agonist through the β2AR mediated pathway.
authors: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Dalian Medical University, Dalian, 116044, China. houjie@nankai.edu.cn.
authors: Jie
authors: J
authors: Hou
authors: Qian
authors: Q
authors: Shi
authors: Meirong
authors: M
authors: Cao
authors: Pengwei
authors: P
authors: Pan
authors: Guangbo
authors: G
authors: Ge
authors: Xuran
authors: X
authors: Fan
authors: Gang
authors: G
authors: Bai
authors: Yi
authors: Y
authors: Xin
mesh_terms: D019187:Cadmium Compounds / Q000737:chemistry; D057930:Click Chemistry; D006034:Glycyrrhetinic Acid / Q000737:chemistry*; D057809:HEK293 Cells; D006801:Humans; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal; D010316:Particle Size; D045663:Quantum Dots / Q000737:chemistry*; D018343:Receptors, Adrenergic, beta-2 / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D013691:Tellurium / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D019187:Cadmium Compounds; D018343:Receptors, Adrenergic, beta-2; D013691:Tellurium; D006034:Glycyrrhetinic Acid; C028337:cadmium telluride