East China Normal University Tian YangPublished on 2025.9.15
Recent article by the corresponding author: J. Am. Chem. Soc. | East China Normal University – Tian Yang: Engineered Supramolecular Fluorescent Chemical Sensors for Dynamic Multiscale Visualization Monitoring of Glutamate in Living Systems
Research Highlights
Arginine (Arg) is a crucial amino acid in the central nervous system, playing a key role in the differentiation of neural stem cells (NSCs). However, there are significant challenges in the in situ specific quantitative tracking of dynamic changes in arginine. This study developed a series of arginine probes (Rap1-9) based on the nucleophilic substitution reaction of phenyl activated esters with primary amines. Among them, the optimized near-infrared emitting ratio fluorescence probe Rap-9 exhibits the strongest electrophilicity at its reaction site, enabling rapid and specific detection of arginine both in vitro and in vivo. Notably, Rap-9 was successfully applied to real-time imaging of dynamic changes in arginine during the differentiation of neural stem cells stimulated by O2ยท–. Further studies revealed that arginine can coordinate the reactivation of quiescent neural stem cells (qNSC) and neuronal differentiation by activating the mTORC1 pathway, with mechanisms involving the reprogramming of mitochondrial energy metabolism from glycolysis to oxidative phosphorylation. These findings not only deepen our understanding of the metabolic regulatory network in neural stem cell differentiation but also provide new perspectives for neuroscience research and potential therapeutic strategies.
Research Content
Original link:https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/jacs.5c05685