GLP‑1 Receptor Mediated Targeting of a Fluorescent Zn²⁺ Sensor to Beta Cell Surface for Imaging Insulin/Zn²⁺ Release

The pancreatic islet beta cell plays an essential role in maintaining the normal blood glucose level by releasing insulin. Loss of functional beta cell mass leads to diabetesa disease affecting ∼9% of the population worldwide. There has been great interest and intense effort in developing imaging probes for monitoring islet beta cells, and glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor (GLP-1R) has emerged as a valuable biomarker for targeting beta cells. However, efforts thus far in GLP-1R mediated beta cell labeling and imaging has largely, if not exclusively, focused on developing imaging probes for monitoring beta cell mass, and few studies have investigated imaging beta cell function (insulin release) through GLP-1R. We now report the design and synthesis of a bioconjugate, ZIMIR-Ex4(9–39), that consists of a fluorescent Zn²⁺ sensor and a truncated exendin 4 peptide for imaging insulin/Zn²⁺ release in islet beta cells. In vitro, the conjugate bound to Zn²⁺ with high affinity and displayed a robust fluorescence enhancement upon Zn²⁺ chelation. When added to beta cells at submicromolar concentration, ZIMIR-Ex4(9–39) rapidly labeled cell surface in minutes to report the dynamics of insulin/Zn²⁺ release with high spatiotemporal resolution. Future explorations of this approach may lead to probes for tracking beta cell function using different imaging modalities.