Harnessing alpha-L-fucosidase for in vivo cellular senescence imaging

Abstract

Precise detection of cellular senescence may allow its role in biological systems to be evaluated more effectively, while supporting studies of therapeutic candidates designed to evade its detrimental effect on physical function. We report here studies of alpha-l-fucosidase (alpha-fuc) as a biomarker for cellular senescence and the development of an alpha-fuc-responsive aggregation induced emission (AIE) probe, termed QM-NH alpha fuc designed to complement more conventional probes based on beta-galactosidase (beta-gal). Using QM-NH alpha fuc, the onset of replicative-, reactive oxygen species (ROS)-, ultraviolet A (UVA)-, and drug-induced senescence could be probed effectively. QM-NH alpha fuc also proved capable of identifying senescent cells lacking beta-gal expression. The non-invasive real-time senescence tracking provided by QM-NH alpha fuc was validated in an in vivo senescence model. The results presented in this study lead us to suggest that the QM-NH alpha fuc could emerge as a useful tool for investigating senescence processes in biological systems.