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Updated: Aug 7, 2026

Imaging Plasma Membrane Deformations With pTIRFM
Published on: April 2, 2014
A Perylene-Based Bright Red-Emitting Probe for Wash-Free Cell Plasma Membrane Imaging Via Excimer Formation
Mingshu Wu1, Yongling Zheng2, Ziwen Yan3
1School of Chemical and Material Engineering, Hainan Vocational University of Science and Technology, Haikou, P. R. China. wumingshu@126.com.
Abstract:
Excimer emission exhibits red-shifted, broadened, and large Stokes-shifted characteristics compared to monomeric emission, making it advantageous for biological imaging. In this work, a perylene-based amphiphilic fluorophore (DAVP) was developed for wash-free cell plasma membrane imaging. DAVP readily forms excimer, emitting intense red fluorescence. In water, it shows very weak fluorescence, but its emission intensity significantly increases upon molecular aggregation induced by either increasing concentration or adding THF to aqueous solutions. Notably, DAVP exhibits enhanced fluorescence in cationic and anionic surfactant micelles compared to its aggregated states. Leveraging these properties, DAVP serves as a membrane-specific imaging agent with several distinct advantages: bright red emission, a large Stokes shift, high water solubility, low cytotoxicity, rapid staining, and wash-free capability.
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