Curcumin-based-fluorescent probes targeting ALDH1A3 as a promising tool for glioblastoma precision surgery and early diagnosis.
Edoardo L M GelardiDiego CaprioglioGiorgia ColomboErika Del GrossoDaniele MazzolettiDaiana MattoteiaStefano SalamoneDavide M FerrarisEleonora AronicaGiulia NatoAnnalisa BuffoMenico RizziLorenzo MagrassiAlberto MinassiSilvia GaravagliaPublished in: Communications biology (2022)
Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most aggressive primary brain tumour for which both effective treatments and efficient tools for an early-stage diagnosis are lacking. Herein, we present curcumin-based fluorescent probes that are able to bind to aldehyde dehydrogenase 1A3 (ALDH1A3), an enzyme overexpressed in glioma stem cells (GSCs) and associated with stemness and invasiveness of GBM. Two compounds are selective versus ALDH1A3, without showing any appreciable interaction with other ALDH1A isoenzymes. Indeed, their fluorescent signal is detectable only in our positive controls in vitro and absent in cells that lack ALDH1A3. Remarkably, in vivo, our Probe selectively accumulate in glioblastoma cells, allowing the identification of the growing tumour mass. The significant specificity of our compounds is the necessary premise for their further development into glioblastoma cells detecting probes to be possibly used during neurosurgical operations.
Keyphrases
- living cells
- induced apoptosis
- stem cells
- early stage
- cell cycle arrest
- quantum dots
- small molecule
- single molecule
- endoplasmic reticulum stress
- minimally invasive
- squamous cell carcinoma
- oxidative stress
- coronary artery disease
- cell proliferation
- atrial fibrillation
- multiple sclerosis
- label free
- nucleic acid
- subarachnoid hemorrhage
- blood brain barrier