DAMP, an acidotropic pH indicator, can be used as a tool to visualize non-esterified cholesterol in cells.

Weimin Li, Rong Wang, Shaojuan Zhang, Xu Li

Index: Acta Biochim. Biophys. Sin. (Shanghai) 47(2) , 73-9, (2015)

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Abstract

Cholesterol-rich regions are attractive targets for studying metabolic disorders that involve accumulation of cholesterol. Despite efforts to develop probes for labelling cholesterol-rich regions in cells, few of these reagents have a low molecular weight. Previous studies have shown that the acidotropic pH indicator, N-{3-[(2,4-dinitrophenyl)amino]propyl}-N-(3-aminopropyl)methylamine dihydrochloride (DAMP), reacts with cholesterol-rich organelles, such as endocrine secretary granules from endocrine cells. In this study, we demonstrated that DAMP could react with free cholesterol in a dose-dependent manner, and DAMP was able to detect cholesterol-rich subcellular organelles. DAMP was sufficiently potent to detect free cholesterol-enriched organs, but was unable to detect atherosclerotic plaques primarily composed of esterified cholesterol. Taken together, these results demonstrate that DAMP facilitates the study of cholesterol-enriched lipid rafts and disorders which involve cholesterol accumulation. © The Author 2015. Published by ABBS Editorial Office in association with Oxford University Press on behalf of the Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences.