Fluorescent dyes articles from across Nature Portfolio

Shi, Liu, Gao et al. present a strategy to monitor and selectively eliminate senescent cells in mice during aging through controllable photodynamic therapy, which inhibited the age-related functional decline.

We present a protocol for the synthesis and usage of QM-FN-SO₃, a near-infrared aggregation-induced-emission-active fluorescent probe capable of crossing the blood–brain barrier and ultrasensitively lighting up amyloid-β plaques in living mice.

Differential sensing aims to mimic senses such as taste and smell through the use of synthetic receptors. Here, the authors show that arrays of de novo designed peptide assemblies can be used as sensor components to distinguish various analytes and complex mixtures.

A multi-view reflector microscope based on polarization modulation and pupil splitting enables single-molecule orientation-localization microscopy with precisions of 10.9 nm and 2.0°.

Fluorogenic detection of H₂O₂ in cells is established, but equivalent tools to monitor its cellular targets remain in their infancy. Here authors develop fluorogenic probes for detecting cysteine sulfenic acid, a redox modification inextricably linked to H₂O₂ signalling and oxidative stress.

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.