Simultaneous FLIM and PLIM imaging of temperature and oxygen in live cancer cell models

How important is the temperature for physiology and cell metabolism? Is it uniform in the cell and tissue sample or not and how it affects the biochemical analysis of cell function? 

Perhaps, the results and experimental approach reported in the recent study 'Sulforhodamine nanothermometer for multi-parametric FLIM imaging' by PhD candidate J. Jenkins, Prof. S. Borisov (Graz University of Technology), Prof. D. Papkovsky and Dr. R. Dmitriev can help answering these questions.

The team designed new T-sensitive fluorescent nanoparticle-based probe and thoroughly evaluated it for possible cross-interferences (such as pH, viscosity, ionic strength) which normally negatively affect the performance of similar type of fluorescent dyes. Team demonstrated the performance of T probe in quantitative FLIM measurements, together with state-of-the-art O2-sensitive nanoparticles and subsequently probed 2D (monolayer) and 3D (tumour spheroids) models of cancer cells for the existence of T and O2 gradients: in contrast to widely used 2D cell culture, they found significant and dynamic gradients in 3D model, which were modulated by drugs affecting mitochondrial function. 

These results highlight the importance of using 3D cell-based models for studying cancer, underline the necessity of monitoring of O2 and T in studying drug effects and cell metabolism and demonstrate relatively simple way of doing this with the described method. 

The full text of the article published in Analytical Chemistry journal can be assessed here.