Cytophilic Fluorescent Bioprobes for Long-Term Cell Tracking

Molecules of siloles are almost non-fluorescent but their nanoaggregates are highly emissive, exhibiting aggregation-induced emission (AIE). The AIE-active aggregates are cytocompatible with living cells, stain cytoplasms of HeLa cells indelibly without contaminating another type of cell line in a co-culture system, and remain visible for a long period of time.