Thermometers for monitoring cellular temperature

Temperature is a critical parameter that influences various biological events and reactions in homeotherms (including mammals), poikilotherms, and plants. However, the spatiotemporal patterns of temperature at the single-cell level remain largely unknown. Various kinds of thermometers have been developed for monitoring temperature at the single-cell level. We introduce some cellular thermometers based on Europium (III) thenoyltrifluoroacetonate trihydrate, gold nanoclusters, nanodiamonds, synthetic polymers, quantum dots, green fluorescent protein, and bimaterial microcantilevers. We also discuss a critique of these thermometric methods and provide some responses to this critique. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.