ERROR 1
ERROR 1
ERROR 2
ERROR 2
ERROR 2
ERROR 2
ERROR 2
Password and Confirm password must match.
If you have an ACS member number, please enter it here so we can link this account to your membership. (optional)
ERROR 2
ACS values your privacy. By submitting your information, you are gaining access to C&EN and subscribing to our weekly newsletter. We use the information you provide to make your reading experience better, and we will never sell your data to third party members.
An iridium complex turns on and lights up the nuclei of living cells by binding to histidine rather than to DNA, unlike other nuclear imaging agents, reports Fuyou Li and colleagues of China’s Fudan University (J. Am. Chem. Soc., DOI: 10.1021/ja202344c). The complex, [Ir(polypyridyl)2(dimethylsulfoxide)2]PF6, demonstrates little fluorescence as a solid or alone in solution. But when the complex binds to free histidine or histidine-containing proteins and is excited by 488-nm light, it fluoresces intensely. Although the complex can react with cytoplasmic proteins, an active transport mechanism—possibly a transport protein—spontaneously brings it into living cells and segregates it to the nucleus. The complex stains cellular nuclei within a few minutes and has low toxicity, the researchers note.
Join the conversation
Contact the reporter
Submit a Letter to the Editor for publication
Engage with us on Twitter