The monitoring of K+ is very important and emergency because of their unique relationship in various disease diagnosis and treatment. G-quadruplex analogue is a classical recognition unit for K+ detection and has been widely applied in K+ relevant research. Common fluorescent dyes were employed for design of G-quadruplex structure-based K+ probes which suffered from the aggregation-caused quenching effect, and possibly limited the biological applications in living systems. Herein, we report an aggregation-induced emission (AIE) effect-based fluorescent probe for cellular K+ analysis and imaging. Benefitting from the K+ triggered AIE phenomenon, the designed TPE derivative modified guanine (G)-rich oligonucleotide fluorescent probe (TPE-oligonucleotide probe) exhibits high sensitivity (∼10-fold higher than most reported G-quadruplex-based probes) with extended photostability which facilitates the prolonged fluorescence observations of K+ in living cells. On the basis of these advantages, the TPE-oligonucleotide probe serves as a promising candidate for the functional study and analysis of K+.
Keywords: Aggregation-induced emission; Cell imaging; G-quadruplex analogue; Potassium ion detection; Tetraphenylethene derivative; Turn-on response.
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