A multifunctional AIEgen with high cell-penetrating ability for intracellular fluorescence assays, imaging and drug delivery

18Citations
Citations of this article
9Readers
Mendeley users who have this article in their library.

Abstract

Aggregation-induced emission luminogens (AIEgens) with a definite structure-activity relationship play important roles in site-specific bio-imaging and applications. However, the lack of a clear structure-activity relationship for the excited-state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) molecules, which are a series of powerful AIEgens, restricts their biological applications. Herein, the cell-penetrating capability of 4-N,N-dimethylaminoaniline salicylaldehyde Schiff-bases (DSS) with different substituents was investigated. The diethylamino functionalized ESIPT Schiff base (DSS-4-DEA) displayed high cell-penetrating capacity, making this simple AIEgen turn into a more powerful fluorescent functional material in biosystems. The DSS-4-DEA was successfully used for a fluorescence assay of the intracellular Cu2+. Besides, the DSS-4-DEA could also be used as an efficient transmembrane carrier to drastically enhance the internalization of DSS-5-Cl to achieve two-color imaging. In addition, the DSS-4-DEA could be used to improve the transportation of anticancer drug curcumin (Cur) into HeLa cells, leading to increased apoptosis. The complete exploration of the structure-activity relationship of ESIPT molecules might supply lots of new applications of AIE materials in biological systems.

References Powered by Scopus

Aggregation-induced emission of 1-methyl-1,2,3,4,5-pentaphenylsilole

7337Citations
N/AReaders
Get full text

Aggregation-Induced Emission: Together We Shine, United We Soar!

6818Citations
N/AReaders
Get full text

Bioavailability of curcumin: Problems and promises

4618Citations
N/AReaders
Get full text

Cited by Powered by Scopus

ESIPT-based AIE luminogens: Design strategies, applications, and mechanisms

178Citations
N/AReaders
Get full text

AIE luminogens as fluorescent bioprobes

176Citations
N/AReaders
Get full text

Functionalized Acrylonitriles with Aggregation-Induced Emission: Structure Tuning by Simple Reaction-Condition Variation, Efficient Red Emission, and Two-Photon Bioimaging

166Citations
N/AReaders
Get full text

Register to see more suggestions

Mendeley helps you to discover research relevant for your work.

Already have an account?

Cite

CITATION STYLE

APA

Li, Y. J., Zhang, H. T., Chen, X. Y., Gao, P. F., & Hu, C. H. (2019). A multifunctional AIEgen with high cell-penetrating ability for intracellular fluorescence assays, imaging and drug delivery. Materials Chemistry Frontiers, 3(6), 1151–1158. https://doi.org/10.1039/c9qm00089e

Readers over time

‘19‘21‘22‘23‘2401234

Readers' Seniority

Tooltip

PhD / Post grad / Masters / Doc 2

40%

Researcher 2

40%

Lecturer / Post doc 1

20%

Readers' Discipline

Tooltip

Chemistry 2

40%

Chemical Engineering 1

20%

Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Bi... 1

20%

Engineering 1

20%

Save time finding and organizing research with Mendeley

Sign up for free
0