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<i>N</i>-propargylputrescine as a minimal-tag probe for imaging putrescine dynamics in cellular homeostasis and stress.

Overview

Authors: Aleksandra Owczarek1, Aleksandra Duchnowska1,2, Zuzanna Sas3, Maciej Zakrzewski3, Anita Florkowska3, Martyna Nalepa1, Aleksandra Skweres1,2, Filip Suchożebski1, Alicja Mąka1, Jakub Szymanowski1, Piotr Michaluk4, Katarzyna Winiarska5, Maciej Cieśla3, Anna Marusiak3, Remigiusz A. Serwa3, Michał Węgrzynowicz1
ORCID iDs: Michał Węgrzynowicz
  1. Mossakowski Medical Research Institute, Polish Academy of Sciences, Pawińskiego 5, 02-106 Warsaw, Poland
  2. Doctoral School of Translational Medicine, Centre of Postgraduate Medical Education, Marymoncka 99/103, 01-813 Warsaw, Poland
  3. IMol Polish Academy of Sciences, Flisa 6, 02-247 Warsaw, Poland
  4. Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Pasteura 3, 02-093 Warsaw, Poland
  5. Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, Miecznikowa 1, 02-096 Warsaw, Poland
Institutions: Mossakowski Medical Research Institute, Polish Academy of Sciences (Poland); International Institute of Molecular Mechanisms and Machines Polish Academy of Science (Poland); Polish Academy of Sciences (Poland); Instytut Biologii Doświadczalnej im. Marcelego Nenckiego (Poland); University of Warsaw (Poland)
Journal: iScience, volume 29, issue 9, article 117380
Dates: received 27 October 2025; accepted 14 August 2026; published online 3 September 2026
Type: Research article · Language: English
License: CC BY
Identifiers: DOI 10.1016/j.isci.2026.117380 · PMID 42733835 · PMCID PMC13571663 · OpenAlex W7207579117
Open access: gold, a free copy (OpenAlex)
Status: code on request
Categories: histology / microscopy (modality), cellular / molecular (subfield)
Methods: Statistics, Connectivity, fMRI & imaging
Keywords: putrescine, polyamines, bioorthogonal probe, neuronal vs. astrocytic uptake, neuropathology
Topic: Polyamine Metabolism and Applications (Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology), according to OpenAlex
Funding: Narodowym Centrum Nauki (2023/07/X/NZ4/00420, 2020/38/E/ST4/00250, 2023/49/N/NZ4/02660); Mossakowski Medical Research Institute; Polska Akademia Nauk (Polish Academy of Sciences) (FBW-019)
Citations: not cited yet (Europe PMC); 74 references in the paper
Research resources: RRID:AB_143165, Anti-HIF-1α RRID:AB_2117128, Anti-TOM20 RRID:AB_2207530, Anti-rabbit, biotinylated RRID:AB_2313606, Streptavidin, Alexa Fluor 488-conjugated RRID:AB_2315383, Anti-GFAP RRID:AB_2757050, Anti-WFS1 RRID:AB_2880717, Secondary anti-rabbit, HRP-conjugated RRID:AB_390191, Anti-β-actin, HRP-conjugated RRID:AB_445482, Anti-GFAP, Cy3-conjugated RRID:AB_476889, Anti-MAP2 RRID:AB_91939, MCF-7 RRID:CVCL_0031

Abstract

Polyamines regulate multiple cellular pathways, and their intracellular availability is controlled in part by transport. We developed imaging putrescine (iPUT), a clickable putrescine analog expected to retain key properties of native putrescine and enable bio-orthogonal fluorophore conjugation for high-resolution imaging. In MCF-7 cells, iPUT accumulated predominantly in nuclei, unlike the directly fluorophore-conjugated probe BODIPY-PUT, highlighting the value of minimal tagging. In hippocampal co-cultures, iPUT accumulated predominantly in neurons. Neuronal labeling was also more frequent than astrocytic labeling in acute hippocampal slices, contrasting with reported glial storage of spermidine and spermine. Subcellular distribution differed across models, with nuclear enrichment in dividing MCF-7 and predominantly extranuclear localization in mature neurons in hippocampal slices. Mimetic hypoxia and excitotoxicity reduced iPUT accumulation in CA1 but not in CA2/3 neurons, and promoted nuclear redistribution in CA1. Thus, iPUT enables investigation of cell-, region-, and stress-dependent putrescine handling.

Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.

Code

The paper says that its authors' code is available on request: it was not published with the paper, so there is nothing to verify.

The paper's code and data availability statement is in the Data section.

Tracing map

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Data

Datasets cited

Data and code availability

• The raw data used to generate the figures in this article have been deposited in Mendeley Data (version 1), https://doi.org/10.17632/mvjdt9xndt. • This paper does not report original code. • Any additional information required to re-analyze the data reported in this paper are available from the lead contact upon request.

Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.

Versions

The history of this record: each version stored by the harvester or made by a correction of its authors or of the maintainers of its code, and what changed in its facts. The texts of the paper (its abstract, its availability statements) are not part of it; versions that changed only those are not listed.

Version 3, 28 September 2026

  • Authors: added Michał Węgrzynowicz (0000-0002-5082-9576); removed Michał Węgrzynowicz

Version 1, 27 September 2026: the first record

Recorded: type, language, journal, volume, issue, pages, dates, 16 authors, 5 keywords, 3 funders, 74 references, 12 RRIDs.

Cite

This paper

Owczarek, A., Duchnowska, A., Sas, Z., Zakrzewski, M., Florkowska, A., Nalepa, M., Skweres, A., Suchożebski, F., Mąka, A., Szymanowski, J., Michaluk, P., Winiarska, K., Cieśla, M., Marusiak, A., Serwa, R. A., & Węgrzynowicz, M. (2026). <i>N</i>-propargylputrescine as a minimal-tag probe for imaging putrescine dynamics in cellular homeostasis and stress. iScience, 29(9), 117380. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2026.117380

BibTeX

@article{owczarek2026lt,
author = {Owczarek, Aleksandra and Duchnowska, Aleksandra and Sas, Zuzanna and Zakrzewski, Maciej and Florkowska, Anita and Nalepa, Martyna and Skweres, Aleksandra and Suchożebski, Filip and Mąka, Alicja and Szymanowski, Jakub and Michaluk, Piotr and Winiarska, Katarzyna and Cieśla, Maciej and Marusiak, Anna and Serwa, Remigiusz A. and Węgrzynowicz, Michał},
title = {{\<i\>N\</i\>-propargylputrescine as a minimal-tag probe for imaging putrescine dynamics in cellular homeostasis and stress}},
journal = {iScience},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
volume = {29},
number = {9},
pages = {117380},
publisher = {Elsevier},
issn = {2589-0042},
doi = {10.1016/j.isci.2026.117380},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2026.117380},
pmid = {42733835},
pmcid = {PMC13571663}
}

RIS

TY - JOUR
AU - Owczarek, Aleksandra
AU - Duchnowska, Aleksandra
AU - Sas, Zuzanna
AU - Zakrzewski, Maciej
AU - Florkowska, Anita
AU - Nalepa, Martyna
AU - Skweres, Aleksandra
AU - Suchożebski, Filip
AU - Mąka, Alicja
AU - Szymanowski, Jakub
AU - Michaluk, Piotr
AU - Winiarska, Katarzyna
AU - Cieśla, Maciej
AU - Marusiak, Anna
AU - Serwa, Remigiusz A.
AU - Węgrzynowicz, Michał
TI - <i>N</i>-propargylputrescine as a minimal-tag probe for imaging putrescine dynamics in cellular homeostasis and stress
T2 - iScience
J2 - iScience
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/03
VL - 29
IS - 9
SP - 117380
SN - 2589-0042
PB - Elsevier
DO - 10.1016/j.isci.2026.117380
UR - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2026.117380
LA - en
ER -

CSL-JSON

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