Open AccessInvestigating tunneling nanotubes in ovarian cancer based on two-photon excitation FLIM-FRET
Author(s) -
Shiqi Wang,
Yanping Li,
Yihua Zhao,
Feifei Lin,
Junle Qu,
Liwei Liu
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
biomedical optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.362
H-Index - 86
ISSN - 2156-7085
DOI - 10.1364/boe.418778
Subject(s) - förster resonance energy transfer , fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy , cancer cell , fluorescence , cell , nanotechnology , biophysics , two photon excitation microscopy , materials science , cancer , chemistry , biology , physics , optics , biochemistry , genetics
Precise and efficient cell-to-cell communication is critical to the growth and differentiation of organisms, the formation of various organism, the maintenance of tissue function and the coordination of their various physiological activities, especially to the growth and invasion of cancer cells. Tunneling nanotubes (TNTs) were discovered as a new method of cell-to-cell communication in many cell lines. In this paper, we investigated TNTs-like structures in ovarian cancer cells and proved their elements by fluorescent staining, which showed that TNTs are comprised of natural lipid bilayers with microtubules as the skeleton that can transmit ions and organelles between adjacent cells. We then used fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) based on two-photon excitation fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) (TP-FLIM-FRET) to detect material transport in TNTs. The experimental results showed that the number of TNTs have an impact on the drug treatment of cancer cells, which provided a new perspective for TNTs involvement in cancer treatment. Our results also showed that TP-FLIM-FRET would potentially become a new optical method for TNTs study.