Mapping microbubble viscosity using fluorescence lifetime imaging of molecular rotors.

Title: Mapping Microbubble Viscosity Using Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging of Molecular Rotors Short title: Molecular rotors measure microbubble viscosity using FLIM

Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging of Molecular Rotors in Living Cells

Diffusion is often an important rate-determining step in chemical reactions or biological processes and plays a role in a wide range of intracellular events. Viscosity is one of the key parameters affecting the diffusion of molecules and proteins, and changes in viscosity have been linked to disease and malfunction at the cellular level. While methods to measure the bulk viscosity are well deve...

Molecular rheometry: direct determination of viscosity in Lo and Ld lipid phases via fluorescence lifetime imaging.

Understanding of cellular regulatory pathways that involve lipid membranes requires the detailed knowledge of their physical state and structure. However, mapping the viscosity and diffusion in the membranes of complex composition is currently a non-trivial technical challenge. We report fluorescence lifetime spectroscopy and imaging (FLIM) of a meso-substituted BODIPY molecular rotor localised...

Imaging phase separation in model lipid membranes through the use of BODIPY based molecular rotors.

In order to fully understand the dynamics of processes within biological lipid membranes, it is necessary to possess an intimate knowledge of the physical state and ordering of lipids within the membrane. Here we report the use of three molecular rotors based on meso-substituted boron-dipyrrin (BODIPY) in combination with fluorescence lifetime spectroscopy to investigate the viscosity and phase...

Dual mode quantitative imaging of microscopic viscosity using a conjugated porphyrin dimer.

Microviscosity is of paramount importance in materials and bio-sciences. Fluorescence imaging using molecular rotors has emerged as a versatile tool to measure microviscosity, either using a fluorescence lifetime or a ratiometric signal of the rotor; however, only a limited number of blue-to-green-emitting fluorophores with both the lifetime and the ratiometric signal sensitivity to viscosity h...