| Institution: | 1. Department of Chemistry, Imperial College London, White City Campus, 82 Wood Lane, London, W12 0BZ UK
These authors contributed equally to this work.;2. Department of Chemistry, Imperial College London, White City Campus, 82 Wood Lane, London, W12 0BZ UK |
| Abstract: | G-quadruplex DNA is a non-canonical structure that forms in guanine-rich regions of the genome. There is increasing evidence showing that G-quadruplexes have important biological functions, and therefore molecular tools to visualise these structures are important. Herein we report on a series of new cyclometallated platinum(II) complexes which, upon binding to G-quadruplex DNA, display an increase in their phosphorescence, acting as switch-on probes. More importantly, upon binding to G-quadruplexes they display a selective and distinct lengthening of their emission lifetime. We show that this effect can be used to selectively visualise these structures in cells using Phosphorescence Lifetime Imaging Microscopy (PLIM). |
