FRET Luminescent Probe for the Ratiometric Imaging of Peroxynitrite in Rat Brain Models of Epilepsy-Based on Organic Dye-Conjugated Iridium(III) Complex

Tracking Plasma Membrane Damage Using a Ruthenium(II) Complex Phosphorescent Indicator Paired with Cholesterol

“…Transition metal complexes, especially Ru­(II) and Ir­(III) complexes, demonstrate promising characteristics for being used to develop luminescent probes, including excellent optical stabilities, long emission lifetimes, and large Stokes shifts. − These properties of transition metal complexes enable the probes to be able to overcome the shortcomings of organic dyes and thus to be more suitable for the in situ analysis and in vivo bioimaging.…”

“…The fluorescence imaging technique is a useful tool for facilely monitoring the plasma membrane behavior because of its high sensitivity, selectivity, and capacity for real-time in situ detection. − Although the plasma membrane indicators using organic dyes as the fluorescence cores have the advantages of high fluorescence quantum yields, large molar extinction coefficients, and adjustable emission wavelengths, their some performances still need to be improved including the following: (1) poor photostability and easy to be photobleached, (2) small Stokes shifts and easy to be interfered by excitation light, and (3) short fluorescence lifetimes and easy to be interfered by self-luminescence biological backgrounds and scattered lights of nearby optical systems . In contrast, transition metal complexes as a kind of excellent luminophores have been widely used in the field of luminescence probes due to their unique properties and versatility. − In our previous studies, we have successfully developed some luminescent probes based on Ru­(II)/Ir­(III) complexes, − which exhibited excellent features including good biocompatibility, larger Stokes shifts, high photophysicochemical stabilities, and long luminescence lifetimes. Therefore, it is reasonable to construct membrane indicators using the transition metal complexes as a luminescence core to address the problems of existing cell membrane indicators.…”