Issue 18, 2017

Living cell intracellular temperature imaging with biocompatible dye-conjugated carbon dots

Abstract

Within living cells, the biological functions of subcellular organelles are highly dependent on the distribution of local temperature. In this regard, sensitive and accurate measurement of cellular temperature with subcellular resolution is fundamentally and practically significant. In this work, we demonstrated a fluorescence-based self-calibration method for the quantitative analysis of living cell temperature. A ratiometric temperature sensor was designed by conjugating a temperature sensitive dye, Rhodamine B (RhB), with biocompatible carbon dots (CDs) via a covalent bond. The as-prepared CDs–RhB probe showed excellent ratiometric temperature sensing capability in solution under a single wavelength excitation and displayed a linear temperature sensing range from 5 to 50 °C, which matches the requirement well for the physiologically relevant temperature assay. Furthermore, this probe was applied to map intracellular temperature inside living cells. The fast and accurate temperature response of the probe makes it a promising tool for monitoring the intracellular temperature change, which will promote a better understanding of the temperature relevant biological processes inside living cells.

Graphical abstract: Living cell intracellular temperature imaging with biocompatible dye-conjugated carbon dots

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
29 Jan 2017
Accepted
03 Apr 2017
First published
04 Apr 2017

J. Mater. Chem. B, 2017,5, 3383-3390

Living cell intracellular temperature imaging with biocompatible dye-conjugated carbon dots

L. Wei, Y. Ma, X. Shi, Y. Wang, X. Su, C. Yu, S. Xiang, L. Xiao and B. Chen, J. Mater. Chem. B, 2017, 5, 3383 DOI: 10.1039/C7TB00309A

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements