A dual ICT-based fluorescent probe for revealing the fluctuations of Golgi apparatus (GA) polarity in living cells during ferroptosis

Ferroptosis has close association with Golgi apparatus (GA), and revealing GA polarity fluctuations during ferroptosis is critical for in-depth studying biological functions of GA for ferroptosis. Herein, we disclosed the fluctuations of GA polarity during the course of ferroptosis by a GA-targeting polarity-sensitive probe (GA-P), for the first time. The probe GA-P used a D-it-A-it-D framework to respond to GA polarity, and employed myristamide as GA-targeting group. Theoretical calculations indicated that dual ICT processes occurred after the transition of GA-P to excited state. GA-P mainly distributed in GA instead of the other organelles including ER and lysosome, and exhibited excellent GA-targeting ability. Imaging data demonstrated that ferroptosis can noticeably raise the GA polarity in the cells stimulated with erastin. Furthermore, like to the traditional ferroptosis inhibitors (Fer-1, DFO, et al.), dihydrolipoic acid and rutin could impede the significant fluctuations of GA polarity during ferroptosis.