A Fluorescent Probe for Stimulated Emission Depletion Super-Resolution Imaging of Vicinal-Dithiol-Proteins on Mitochondrial Membrane

Realizing the significant roles of vicinal-dithiol proteins (VDPs) in maintaining the cellular redox homeostasis and their implication in many diseases, we synthesized a smart arsenate based fluorescent probe 1 which can preferentially target the mitochondrial membrane-bound vicinal dithiol proteins (VDPs), especially voltage-dependent anion channel (VDAC2). The probe targetability was demonstrated by in vitro studies such as colocalization, stimulated emission depletion (STED) super-resolution imaging, proteomic MS/MS analysis, and Western blot analysis. The probe represents a rare example of fluorescence labeling of mitochondrial membrane-bound VDPs and can provide a new way to construct VDPs-specific fluorescent probes to gain deeper understanding of their roles in mitochondrial-related disorders.