Real‐Time Imaging of Cell Behaviors in Living Organisms by a Mitochondria‐Targeting AIE Fluorogen

Abstract

Real-time visualizing behaviors of cell populations within living multicellular organisms is of great value to life science but challenging due to the lack of ideal probes. In this work, we report a biocompatible fluorogen, azide-functionalized tetraphenylethene pyridinium (TPE-PyN 3 ), for noninvasive imaging and sensing within living systems. TPE-PyN 3 exhibits unique aggregationinduced emission (AIE) attributes and high affinity to mitochondria, enabling it to achieve specific mitochondrial imaging and long-term cellular observing with excellent photostability both in vitro and in vivo. The high membrane penetrability of TPE-PyN 3 allows all of the cells within the living zebrafish embryos to be morphologically visualized and reconstructed in three-dimensions. Moreover, TPE-PyN 3 is capable of indicating cell apoptosis because of its sensitivity to the change of mitochondrial membrane potential. Our findings presented here provide a simple and noninvasive tool for studying behaviors of cell populations in vivo for the first time by a small-molecule AIE probe.Received: ((will be filled in by the editorial staff))Revised: ((will be filled in by the editorial staff)) Published online: ((will be filled in by the editorial staff))

Unveiling upsurge of photogenerated ROS: control of intersystem crossing through tuning aggregation patterns

“…2c), which further implied that both the molecules had good planarity and rigidity upon aggregation. 35,36 Remarkably, the fluorescence quantum yield of dimeric S-2TPA-2PI in water was only 1.85%, much lower than 14.27% of S-TPA-PI, indicating the presence of additional non-radiative transition channels for aggregates of the dimer. Particle sizes in AIE were measured through dynamic light scattering (DLS).…”

Identification and Single‐Cell Analysis of Viable Circulating Tumor Cells by a Mitochondrion‐Specific AIE Bioprobe

“…The above data indicates that labeling of TPN has little effects on cellular downstream analysis even when working with one cell. This is because TPN is a fluorescent “light up” probe that can easily diffuse across the cell membrane and accumulate in the mitochondria within living cell as we reported previously . The labeling procedures are simple with little interference to cell biology.…”

Research on the Method of Detecting TPN-Labeled Tumor Cells in Pleural Effusion Based on the Microfluidic Chip

“…This compound was then used for the real-time imaging of cell behaviors in living organisms, as observed in cultured cells and in live zebrafish. It was found to selectively bind to mitochondria and emit fluorescence [ 32 ]. Researchers later labeled several tumor cell lines and leukocytes with TPN to measure their fluorescence expression by flow cytometry.…”