Bright and water-dispersible membrane probes enable visualization of cellular morphologies and dynamics in light-scattering tissues of living mice.

ABSTRACT: Fluorescent plasma membrane probes are indispensable tools for biological studies, enabling the visualization of the fine structure and dynamics of plasma membranes, and, by extension, the overall morphology of living cells. However, their use has been mostly limited to imaging cultured cells or fixed tissue slices. Indeed, few probes have been optimized for visualizing cellular morphologies in intact tissues or organs. Here, we report a new bright squaraine-based membrane probe, dSQ12AQ, which incorporates two anionic anchor groups (sulfonate and long alkyl chain) to ensure high water dispersibility without precipitation-even at concentrations exceeding 10 mg mL^-1. This highly concentrated probe solution was intravenously administered to living mice without the need for dimethy

SUBMITTER: Uemura T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12188652 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature