The visualization of subcellular structures is critical for understanding their intracellular function. We prepared two triarylboron-based multinuclear Zn2+ complexes, TAB-1-3Zn2+ and TAB-2-2Zn2+, which can be used as fluorescent probes for nucleoside polyphosphate (NPP) and RNA because their multi Zn2+ center can selectively combine with the phosphate side chain of NPP or RNA, accompanied by a corresponding fluorescence change. Among them, TAB-2-2Zn2+ is more suitable than TAB-1-3Zn2+ for live cell imaging because of its excellent cell membrane permeability resulting from amphiphilicity. Since the various membrane structures in cells are also composed of phosphoric acid bilayers, TAB-2-2Zn2+ may also be used to image various membrane structures. Various colocalization experiments further confirmed that TAB-2-2Zn2+ can achieve clear simultaneous imaging of the cell membrane, the endoplasmic reticulum, and the nucleolus. Graphical abstract.
Keywords: Cell membrane; Endoplasmic reticulum; Fluorescence probe; Nucleolus; Triarylboron Zn(II) complexes.