Chemists Focus on Probes, Biologists on Cells—But Who Talks about Probe-Cell Interactions? A Critical Account of the Suboptimal Reporting of Novel Fluorescent Imaging Probes, Using Lipid Droplet Stains as a Case Study

Abstract

Many current reports in the scientific literature describe novel fluorescent probes intended to provide information on various structures or properties of live cells by using microscopic imaging. Unfortunately, many such reports fail to provide key information regarding the staining process. It is often the case that neither the necessary minimum technical detail (probe concentration, solvent and cosolute, temperature and time of staining, and details of post-staining washes) nor a discussion of the proposed staining mechanism are provided. Such omissions make it unnecessarily difficult for biomedical end-users to try out reported novel probes in their own laboratories. The validity of these criticisms is explored and demonstrated by a detailed analysis of 75 non-cherry-picked articles describing novel fluorescent probes for the detection of lipid droplets in live cells. This dataset also suggests that papers from journals with high journal impact factors or from better-known research groups are no more likely to provide better protocol information or discussion of the mechanism than papers from less prestigious sources. Comments on possible reasons for this suboptimal reporting are offered. The use of a suitable information/feature checklist, following best practice in many leading chemical and biological journals, is suggested as a mechanism for ameliorating this situation, with a draft checklist being provided.