An AIE-Based Probe for Rapid and Ultrasensitive Imaging of Plasma Membranes in Biosystems

The abnormality of the plasma membrane (PM) is an important biomarker for cell status and many diseases. Hence, visualizing the PM, especially in complex systems, is an emerging field in the life sciences, especially in low-resource settings. Herein, we developed a water-soluble PM-specific probe utilizing electrostatic and hydrophobic interaction strategies with aggregation-induced emission as the signal output. The probe could image the PM with many advanced features (wash-free, ultrafast staining process, excellent PM specificity, and good biocompatibility), which were demonstrated by the PM imaging of neurons. The probe allowed for the first time the imaging of erythrocytes in the complex brain environment through a fluorescence-based method. Moreover, the PM of the epidermal and partial view of the eyeball structure of live zebrafish are also revealed.