Boronic Acid-Functionalized Conjugated Polymer for Controllable Cell Membrane Imaging

In this work, we designed and synthesized a new cationic conjugated polyfluorene tagging with phenylboronic acid groups (PFP–PBA) for controllable cell membrane imaging. By balancing the synergistic effect of dynamic covalent bonds and electrostatic interactions between positively charged PFP–PBA and negatively charged cell membrane, the controllable cell membrane imaging could be realized. These findings demonstrated that conjugated polymers could be used as effective materials for regulating interactions with cells to develop controllable self-assembly systems for various biological applications.