Imaging articles within Nature Chemistry

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  • Perspective |

    Bioresponsive hyperpolarized probes contain magnetic resonance signals that can be many orders of magnitude larger than those of common, thermally polarized probes. This Perspective discusses how bioresponsive hyperpolarized probes can be directly linked to biological events to give functional information, enabling the mapping of physiological processes and diseases in real time using magnetic resonance.

    • Goran Angelovski
    • , Ben J. Tickner
    •  & Gaoji Wang

  • In Your Element |

    Organisms that glow are perhaps eerie. Vadim Viviani ponders on the luciferin–luciferase systems responsible for their intriguing bioluminescence.

    • Vadim R. Viviani

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The design of photoactivatable fluorophores—which are required for some super-resolution fluorescence microscopy methods—usually relies on light-sensitive protecting groups imparting lipophilicity and generating reactive by-products. Now, it has been shown that by exploiting a unique intramolecular photocyclization, bright and highly photostable fluorophores can be rapidly generated in situ from appropriately substituted 1-alkenyl-3,6-diaminoxanthone precursors.

    • Richard Lincoln
    • , Mariano L. Bossi
    •  & Stefan W. Hell

  • In Your Element |

    Christine M. Le takes a look at 2-[18F]fluoro-2-deoxyglucose and explains how this radioactive sugar could help to save your life.

    • Christine M. Le

  • Article |

    A photoredox-mediated SNAr reaction has now been developed for the direct radiofluorination of unactivated aryl halides. A series of arenes can be radiofluorinated in a site-selective manner from readily available aryl halide precursors under mild conditions. This strategy allows efficient 19F/18F isotopic exchange, enabling rapid PET probe diversification and clinical tracer preparation.

    • Wei Chen
    • , Hui Wang
    •  & Zibo Li

  • Article |

    Imaging-based companion diagnostics can provide real-time information to match therapies to patients; however, glutathione is abundant in most cells, making it an unlikely candidate for companion diagnosis. Now, a chemical probe has been developed that can detect elevated glutathione concentrations via photoacoustic imaging. Using this probe enables normal and pathological states in a lung cancer model to be distinguished.

    • Melissa Y. Lucero
    •  & Jefferson Chan

  • Article |

    Conducting high-resolution, multiplexed imaging in living mammals is challenging because of considerable scattering and autofluorescence in tissue at visible and near-infrared wavelengths. Now, real-time, non-invasive multicolour imaging experiments in live animals have been achieved through the design of optical contrast agents for the shortwave infrared (SWIR, 1,000–2,000 nm) region and the introduction of excitation multiplexing with single-channel SWIR detection.

    • Emily D. Cosco
    • , Anthony L. Spearman
    •  & Ellen M. Sletten

  • Article |

    Super-resolution microscopy has enabled optical imaging of individual biomolecules on the nanometre scale. Now, a new method has been developed that allows active manipulation of single-molecule targets on visualization in a sequential manner. This method, called ‘Action-PAINT’, combines real-time super-resolution microscopy (DNA-PAINT) and photoinducible crosslinking chemistry to deliver a single-molecule cargo with <30 nm selectivity.

    • Ninning Liu
    • , Mingjie Dai
    •  & Peng Yin

  • Article |

    Lipid membranes—which separate cells and organelles from their environment—experience tension during various cell processes; however, measuring membrane tension is notoriously difficult. Now, a new fluorescent, mechanosensitive membrane probe called FliptR has been developed. FliptR enables simple, direct membrane tension measurements in cellular and artificial membranes.

    • Adai Colom
    • , Emmanuel Derivery
    •  & Aurélien Roux

  • Article |

    An optical molecular imaging dye is described that is based on an interlocked squaraine rotaxane peroxide. These fluorescent and chemiluminescent dye molecules can be stored indefinitely at low temperature, but on warming to body temperature they undergo a unimolecular reaction, emitting near-infrared light that can pass through a living mouse.

    • Jeffrey M. Baumes
    • , Jeremiah J. Gassensmith
    •  & Bradley D. Smith

  • Research Highlights |

    The incorporation of a small, photochemically controllable diazoketone moiety in fluorescent rhodamine dyes shows great promise in biological imaging.

    • Anne Pichon

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