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DNA probes are fragments of DNA labeled with a reporter tag to enable their detection or purification. The resulting labeled DNA probes can then hybridize to target nucleic acid sequences through complementary base-pairing, and may be used to recover or identify these regions.
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Single Cell Fate Mapping in Zebrafish

Single Cell Fate Mapping in Zebrafish

Published on: October 5, 2011

Dual-Activatable Cell Tracker for Controlled and Prolonged Single-Cell Labeling.

Elias A Halabi¹, Jorge Arasa², Salome Püntener^1,3

¹Laboratory of Organic Chemistry, ETH Zürich, 8093, Zürich, Switzerland.

ACS Chemical Biology

|April 17, 2020

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

This study introduces a novel dual-activatable cell tracker that precisely stains single cells, overcoming limitations of existing fluorescent dyes for improved cell tracking in biological research.

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Area of Science:

Biomedical Engineering
Cell Biology
Fluorescence Microscopy

Background:

Current cell trackers (fluorescent dyes) lack specificity and suffer from leakage and off-target staining.
These limitations hinder precise spatial and temporal control, especially for single-cell tracking.

Purpose of the Study:

To develop a dual-activatable cell tracker with enhanced specificity and reduced background signal.
To enable precise single-cell tracking with improved spatial and temporal control.

Main Methods:

Development of a novel dual-activatable fluorescent probe.
Assessment of probe cytotoxicity and compatibility with sensitive primary cells.
Evaluation of probe resistance to fixation and permeabilization.
Application in in vivo homing experiments and single-cell tracking in multicellular cultures.
Comparative proliferation studies with existing cell trackers.

Main Results:

The new probe provides precise spatial and temporal staining control, overcoming issues of off-target staining and leakage.
Staining is non-cytotoxic and compatible with sensitive primary cells.
The dye is resistant to harsh fixation/permeabilization and suitable for multiwavelength studies.
Signal retention in cells exceeds 72 hours post-photoactivation.
Successful in vivo homing experiments and long-term (20+ hours) single-cell tracking were achieved.

Conclusions:

This dual-activatable cell tracker offers superior performance compared to conventional dyes.
It facilitates accurate analysis of single-cell behavior and migration in complex biological systems.
The probe is a valuable tool for advanced cell tracking in both in vitro and in vivo settings.