Cationic fluorescent polymeric thermometers with the ability to enter yeast and mammalian cells for practical intracellular temperature measurements

An accurate method for measuring intracellular temperature is potentially valuable because the temperature inside a cell can correlate with diverse biological reactions and functions. In a previous study, we reported the use of a fluorescent polymeric thermometer to reveal intracellular temperature distributions, but this polymer required microinjection for intracellular use, such that it was not user-friendly; furthermore, it could not be used in small cells or cells with a cell wall, such as yeast. In the present study, we developed several novel cationic fluorescent copolymers, including NN-AP2.5 and NN/NI-AP2.5, which exhibited spontaneous and rapid entry (≤20 min) into yeast cells and subsequent stable retention in the cytoplasm. The fluorescence lifetime of NN-AP2.5 in yeast cells was temperature-dependent (6.2 ns at 15 °C and 8.6 ns at 35 °C), and the evaluated temperature resolution was 0.09-0.78 °C within this temperature range. In addition, NN-AP2.5 and NN/NI-AP2.5 readily entered and functioned within mammalian cells. Taken together, these data show that our novel cationic fluorescent polymeric thermometers enable accurate and practical intracellular thermometry in a wide range of cells without the need for a microinjection procedure.