Coumarin-based dye for vital staining of cell cultures

Abstract

Fluorescent dyes are widely used in modern biochemical and biological research to assess, in particular, the functional state of cells, cellular components, tissues, and organisms. Blue fluorescent dyes offer the advantage of not interfering with the autofluorescence of biological media in the green-red spectrum. This study aims to design a new affordable blue fluorescent dye capable of penetrating living cells. The structure of prepared dye (ZS-833) combines the blue fluorophore 7-(diethylamino)coumarin with the dimethyl-2-butenedioate moiety. The utility potential of ZS-833 was tested with staining heterotrophic as well as naturally pigmented cells (the Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast and Gymnodinium corollarium dinoflagellate). ZS-833 penetrates readily both types of living cells, making them bright fluorescent in the blue and green spectral ranges but leaving dead cells unstained. These data suggest ZS-833 as a promising agent for intravital cell culture staining and visualization of cellular components, especially nonpolar ones.