Unsymmetrical pentamethine cyanines for visualizing physiological acidities from the whole-animal to the cellular scale with pH-responsive deep-red fluorescence.

ABSTRACT: Acidity plays an important role in numerous physiological and pathological events. Non-invasively monitoring pH dynamics would be valuable for understanding pathological processes and optimizing therapeutic strategies. Although numerous near-infrared (NIR) fluorophores have been developed to monitor acidification in vivo, the experimental results are difficult to verify at the molecular or cellular level using a fluorescence microscope or flow cytometer due to the lack of lasers with excitation wavelengths in the NIR wavelength range. This work presents a sequential condensation strategy for obtaining unsymmetrical pentamethine cyanines with fine-tuned pK _a values and improved yields. These deep-red fluorophores with pH responsiveness can not only be used to monito

SUBMITTER: Wang Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9033229 | biostudies-literature | 2021 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature