Photostable polymorphic organic cages for targeted live cell imaging.

ABSTRACT: Fluorescent microscopy is a powerful tool for studying the cellular dynamics of biological systems. Small-molecule organic fluorophores are the most commonly used for live cell imaging; however, they often suffer from low solubility, limited photostability and variable targetability. Herein, we demonstrate that a tautomeric organic cage, OC1, has high cell permeability, photostability and selectivity towards the mitochondria. We further performed a structure-activity study to investigate the role of the keto-enol tautomerization, which affords strong and consistent fluorescence in dilute solutions through supramolecular self-assembly. Significantly, OC1 can passively diffuse through the cell membrane directly targeting the mitochondria without going through the endosomes or the lysosomes.

SUBMITTER: Al Kelabi D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9214840 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature