Abstract
This study reports the synthesis of a photoactivatable fluorophore with optimal photochemical and photophysical properties for the real‐time tracking of motion in vivo. The photoactivation mechanism designed into this particular compound permits the conversion of an emissive reactant into an emissive product with resolved fluorescence, under mild illumination conditions that are impossible to replicate with conventional switching schemes based on bleaching. Indeed, the supramolecular delivery of these photoswitchable probes into the cellular blastoderm of Drosophila melanogaster embryos allows the real‐time visualization of translocating molecules with no detrimental effects on the developing organisms. Thus, this innovative mechanism for fluorescence photoactivation can evolve into a general chemical tool to monitor dynamic processes in living biological specimens.
Photochemical conversion of an emissive reactant into an emissive product with resolved fluorescence permits the acquisition of images before and after the switching event. The mild illumination conditions sufficient for photoswitching and the optimal photophysical properties of the interconvertible species allow the real‐time visualization of dynamic events in living Drosophila melanogaster embryos (see scheme).
