Silafluorene as a promising core for cell-permeant, highly bright and two-photon excitable fluorescent probes for live-cell imaging

Marie Auvray (1) , Frédéric Bolze (2) , Gilles Clavier (3) , Florence Mahuteau-Betzer (1)

1 CMBC - Chimie et modélisation pour la biologie du cancer
2 CAMB - Conception et application de molécules bioactives
3 PPSM - Photophysique et Photochimie Supramoléculaires et Macromoléculaires

In this study, we report the synthesis, linear and non-linear photophysical studies and live cell imaging of two two-photon activatable probes based on a silafluorene core: SiFluo-V and SiFluo-L. Thanks to their quadrupolar (A-π-D-π-A) design, these probes exhibit respectively good to impressive two-photon cross sections (from 210 GM to 2150 GM). TD-DFT calculations support the experimental evidence that SiFluo-L displays far better two-photon absorption properties than SiFluo-V. Moreover, SiFluo-L possesses all requirements for bioimaging as it is water soluble, cell-permeant and and presents a low cytotoxicity (IC80≥10 µM). It labels mitochondria in live-cell imaging at low laser power with high brightness, contrast and photostability. This study demonstrates that silafluorene is a promising core to develop new two-photon fluorophores for live cell imaging.

Mots clés: Fluorescent probes; Silafluorene; Two-photon absorption; Live-cell imaging

Domaines: Chimie organique; Imagerie

Marie Auvray, Frédéric Bolze, Gilles Clavier, Florence Mahuteau-Betzer. Silafluorene as a promising core for cell-permeant, highly bright and two-photon excitable fluorescent probes for live-cell imaging. Dyes and Pigments, 2021, 187, pp.109083. ⟨10.1016/j.dyepig.2020.109083⟩. ⟨hal-03330417⟩