title: DAMP, an acidotropic pH indicator, can be used as a tool to visualize non-esterified cholesterol in cells.
abstract: Cholesterol-rich regions are attractive targets for studying metabolic disorders that involve accumulation of cholesterol. Despite efforts to develop probes for labelling cholesterol-rich regions in cells, few of these reagents have a low molecular weight. Previous studies have shown that the acidotropic pH indicator, N-{3-[(2,4-dinitrophenyl)amino]propyl}-N-(3-aminopropyl)methylamine dihydrochloride (DAMP), reacts with cholesterol-rich organelles, such as endocrine secretary granules from endocrine cells. In this study, we demonstrated that DAMP could react with free cholesterol in a dose-dependent manner, and DAMP was able to detect cholesterol-rich subcellular organelles. DAMP was sufficiently potent to detect free cholesterol-enriched organs, but was unable to detect atherosclerotic plaques primarily composed of esterified cholesterol. Taken together, these results demonstrate that DAMP facilitates the study of cholesterol-enriched lipid rafts and disorders which involve cholesterol accumulation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710061, China.
authors.forename: Weimin
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710061, China wangrong@fexmail.cn.
authors.forename: Rong
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of PET-CT, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710061, China.
authors.forename: Shaojuan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710061, China.
authors.forename: Xu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000378:metabolism; D002712:Chlorides / Q000737:chemistry*; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D004136:Dinitrobenzenes / Q000737:chemistry*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005260:Female; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D007328:Insulin / Q000378:metabolism; D008055:Lipids / Q000737:chemistry; D008264:Macrophages / Q000166:cytology; D008297:Male; D021962:Membrane Microdomains / Q000737:chemistry; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008970:Molecular Weight; D015388:Organelles / Q000378:metabolism; D000067996:RAW 264.7 Cells / Q000166:cytology
chemical_list: D002712:Chlorides; D004136:Dinitrobenzenes; D007328:Insulin; D008055:Lipids; C042432:3-(2,4-dinitroanilino)-3'-amino-N-methyldipropylamine; D002784:Cholesterol
keywords: DAMP; acidotropic pH indicator; cholesterol