An amphiphilic squarylium indocyanine dye for long-term tracking of lysosomes

J Mater Chem B. 2015 Oct 14;3(38):7494-7498. doi: 10.1039/c5tb01738f. Epub 2015 Sep 14.

Abstract

A novel amphiphilic squarylium indocyanine (LysoCy) is reported for remarkable lysosome tracking in live cells. LysoCy performs as a promising lysosome tracker with low cytotoxicity, a strong binding affinity and clear subcellular labelling. The long-term dynamics of lysosomes can be revealed by LysoCy for up to 2 days of culture, while the working duration of commercial dye is no longer than 1 hour. Our work provides a good alternative tool for long-term live cell imaging.