Search

Intracellular viscosity plays an important role in regulating cellular morphology and physiology and is closely related to a host of diseases. Especially, the changes in mitochondrial viscosity will cause some common diseases such as hyperlipidemia, Alzheimer's disease and cancer. In this work, we report the design of a red-emissive molecular rotor for the detection of mitochondrial viscosity in live cells. The probe showed fascinating performance, such as specific targeting to mitochondria, high sensitivity to viscosity, and rapid fluorescence response, especially the dual response mode of fluorescence intensity and fluorescence lifetime. By using this probe, we realized monitoring of the mitochondrial viscosity variations in live cells under different physiological processes. Our study offers an opportunity to discover potential tools for mitochondria-related physiology and pathology investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a specific biological marker for the occurrence and progression of tumor cells, detection of telomerase activity is of great importance for the physiological research of tumors. However, in situ measurement of telomerase activity in living cells still remains a challenge. Herein, we report a precisely designed oligonucleotide-functionalized gold nanoparticle probe that has realized high-efficiency detection of telomerase activity for cellular imaging toward the identification of tumors. Our method has achieved intracellular imaging of telomerase activity and shows good performance towards the distinction of tumor cells from normal ones. Moreover, the method reported here for tracking tumor cells in blood has wide applications in cancer diagnosis. This strategy offers an opportunity for cancer diagnosis, guiding therapy and evaluating prognosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]