Photoactivation of silicon rhodamines via a light-induced protonation

  • Nat Commun. 2019 Oct 8;10(1):4580. doi: 10.1038/s41467-019-12480-3.
Michelle S Frei  1  2 ,  Philipp Hoess  3  4 ,  Marko Lampe  5 ,  Bianca Nijmeijer  3 ,  Moritz Kueblbeck  3 ,  Jan Ellenberg  3 ,  Hubert Wadepohl  6 ,  Jonas Ries  3 ,  Stefan Pitsch  7 ,  Luc Reymond  8  9 ,  Kai Johnsson  10  11  12
Affiliations
  • 1. Department of Chemical Biology, Max Planck Institute for Medical Research, Jahnstrasse 29, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany.
  • 2. Institute of Chemical Sciences and Engineering (ISIC), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), 1015, Lausanne, Switzerland.
  • 3. Cell Biology and Biophysics Unit, European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Meyerhofstrasse 1, 69117, Heidelberg, Germany.
  • 4. Collaboration for joint PhD degree between EMBL and Heidelberg University, Faculty of Biosciences, Heidelberg, Germany.
  • 5. Advanced Light Microscopy Facility (ALMF), European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Meyerhofstrasse 1, 69117, Heidelberg, Germany.
  • 6. Anorganisch-Chemisches Institut, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 270, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany.
  • 7. Spirochrome AG, Chalberweidstrasse 4, CH-8260, Stein am Rhein, Switzerland.
  • 8. Biomolecular Screening Facility, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), 1015, Lausanne, Switzerland. [email protected].
  • 9. National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) in Chemical Biology, 1015, Lausanne, Switzerland. [email protected].
  • 10. Department of Chemical Biology, Max Planck Institute for Medical Research, Jahnstrasse 29, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany. [email protected].
  • 11. Institute of Chemical Sciences and Engineering (ISIC), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), 1015, Lausanne, Switzerland. [email protected].
  • 12. National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) in Chemical Biology, 1015, Lausanne, Switzerland. [email protected].
PMID: 31594948 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-12480-3
Abstract

Photoactivatable fluorophores are important for single-particle tracking and super-resolution microscopy. Here we present a photoactivatable fluorophore that forms a bright silicon rhodamine derivative through a light-dependent protonation. In contrast to Other photoactivatable fluorophores, no caging groups are required, nor are there any undesired side-products released. Using this photoactivatable fluorophore, we create probes for HaloTag and actin for live-cell single-molecule localization microscopy and single-particle tracking experiments. The unusual mechanism of photoactivation and the fluorophore's outstanding spectroscopic properties make it a powerful tool for live-cell super-resolution microscopy.

Products