biostudies-literatureTang JNEI NIH HHSNIGMS NIH HHS14699-14706https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC6812504biostudies-literatureUnknown141(37)Photoactivatable fluorophores afford powerful molecular tools to improve the spatial and temporal resolution of subcellular structures and dynamics. By performing a single sulfur-for-oxygen atom replacement within common fluorophores, we have developed a facile and general strategy to obtain photoactivatable fluorogenic dyes across a broad spectral range. Thiocarbonyl substitution within fluorophores results in significant loss of fluorescence via a photoinduced electron transfer-quenching mechanism as suggested by theoretical calculations. Significantly, upon exposure to air and visible light residing in their absorption regime (365-630 nm), thio-caged fluorophores can be efficiently desulfurized to their oxo derivatives, thus restoring strong emission of the fluorophores. The effective photoactivation makes thio-caged fluorophores promising candidates for super-resolution imaging, which was realized by photoactivated localization microscopy (PALM) with low-power activation light under physiological conditions in the absence of cytotoxic additives (e.g., thiols, oxygen scavengers), a feature superior to traditional PALM probes. The versatility of this thio-caging strategy was further demonstrated by multicolor super-resolution imaging of lipid droplets and proteins of interest.Journal of the American Chemical SocietySingle-Atom Fluorescence Switch: A General Approach toward Visible-Light-Activated Dyes for Biological Imaging.PMC6812504R01 EY026545F32 EY027171R01 GM112003R35 GM133706Robichaux MATang JPei JNguyen NTXiao HWu KLZhou YWensel TGfalseSingle-Atom Fluorescence Switch: A General Approach toward Visible-Light-Activated Dyes for Biological Imaging.Photoactivatable fluorophores afford powerful molecular tools to improve the spatial and temporal resolution of subcellular structures and dynamics. By performing a single sulfur-for-oxygen atom replacement within common fluorophores, we have developed a facile and general strategy to obtain photoactivatable fluorogenic dyes across a broad spectral range. Thiocarbonyl substitution within fluorophores results in significant loss of fluorescence via a photoinduced electron transfer-quenching mechanism as suggested by theoretical calculations. Significantly, upon exposure to air and visible light residing in their absorption regime (365-630 nm), thio-caged fluorophores can be efficiently desulfurized to their oxo derivatives, thus restoring strong emission of the fluorophores. The effective photoactivation makes thio-caged fluorophores promising candidates for super-resolution imaging, which was realized by photoactivated localization microscopy (PALM) with low-power activation light under physiological conditions in the absence of cytotoxic additives (e.g., thiols, oxygen scavengers), a feature superior to traditional PALM probes. The versatility of this thio-caging strategy was further demonstrated by multicolor super-resolution imaging of lipid droplets and proteins of interest.2019-01-01T00:00:00Z2019 Sep2020-10-29T12:28:41Z2019-11-05T08:10:29ZS-EPMC68125043145088410.1021/jacs.9b06237