Harnessing single fluorescent probe to image deoxyribonucleic acid and ribonucleic acid in cells

The roles of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA) in cells are closely related. However, the absence of molecular tools for simultaneous imaging of the two nucleic acids has prevented scientists from elucidating the regulatory mechanisms of nucleic acid interaction. The nucleic acid probes developed in recent years have ignored the regulatory relationship between DNA and RNA. Simultaneously imaging RNA and DNA in cells through a single small-molecule fluorescent probe is important. In this study, we propose a strategy for developing fluorescent probes localized to DNA and RNA to investigate their detection and imaging characteristics. The novel probe Bptp-RD has been successfully used for DNA and RNA imaging in cells. We investigated the detection and imaging characteristics of this nucleic acid probe and discovered the following: 1) the differences in the detection results of this nucleic acid probe for DNA and RNA come from the structural differences of the nucleic acids rather than chemical composition differences; 2) through using small-molecule probes to image a nucleic acid in cells, another nucleic acid can be visualized by reducing the fluorescence signal caused by DNA or RNA; 3) the order of response of the small-molecule fluorescent probe with intercalation and binding mechanisms to the type of nucleic acid structure is single chain, double chain, and ring. This work will help improve the understanding of RNA and DNA probes, and the novel probe has high potential to explore the interaction between RNA and DNA in cells.