18β-甘草次酸荧光探针的设计合成及其在细胞成像和抗炎靶点研究中的应用

Abstract

Fluorescently labelled small molecule probes (fluorescent probes) play an important role in cell imaging and are often used in combination with light-affinity probes to determine the subcellular localisation of target proteins. To investigate the target proteins of 18β-glycyrrhetinic acid (18β-GA), which regulates the macrophage inflammatory response, we designed and synthesised three types of fluorescent probes. We analysed its structure-activity relationship by evaluating the biological activity and screening for fluorescent probes with high activity. Our results showed that modifying C-3 hydroxyl and C-30 carboxyl groups enhanced the anti-inflammatory activity of 18β-GA, and found that two preferred probes had similar effects on LPS-induced, inflammation-related factor release (IL-1β, TNF-α, IL-6, HDAC8, P-STAT3, and SOCS3) to those of 18β-GA. Fluorescence signals of the preferred probes Ia and IIc were observed in the cytoplasm. The above results indicated that the anti-inflammatory site of 18β-GA may be located in proteins in the cytoplasm, which would provide useful information for research on the anti-inflammatory targets of 18β-GA.