Synchrotron radiation FTIR detection of a metal-carbonyl tamoxifen analog. Correlation with luminescence microscopy to study its subcellular distribution

Abstract

1,1-Di(4-hydroxyphenyl)-2-cyrhetrenylbut-1-ene 1 is an organometallic conjugate where a [(Cp)Re(CO)3] unit is linked to a hydroxytamoxifen-like structure. Its subcellular nuclear distribution was previously observed in a single cell using the near-field technique AFMIR. We show here that synchrotron radiation FTIR spectromicroscopy (SR-FTIR-SM) enabled the mapping of 1 based on its IR-signature (characteristic bands in the 1850–2200cm−1 range) and pointed out the colocalization of 1 with an area of high amide density. Fluorescence microscopy using DAPI staining performed on the same cells confirmed that this area corresponds to the cell nucleus.