Understanding metal speciation within cells, organelles and body fluids is essential for uncovering both physiological and pathological processes. This requires the development of chemical tools to complement current imaging and bioanalytical techniques. We are working towards a set of chemical tools that can enhance our understanding of metal ions in health and disease.
Copper plays a critical role in the structure and function of essential proteins. These proteins must draw copper from a labile and rapidly exchanging copper pool, which is able to change dynamically in response to cellular stresses or stimuli. When mismanaged, this pool can compromise the health and correct functioning of the cell. There is evidence that misregulation of the labile copper pool is linked to neurodegenerative diseases and cancer, and recent studies have uncovered potential roles for copper as a signalling agent.1
Multimodal imaging is gaining traction in biomedical and clinical studies as it combines the relative advantages of two or more imaging techniques. We are interested in developing multimodal imaging agents to combine fluorescence imaging with additional modalities. One area of focus is the imaging of copper in the brain. We have developed a Cu(II)-responsive fluorescence-photoacoustic imaging agent2 and a copper-responsive dual fluorescence-PET agent3 to image copper in diseased brain tissue.