Development of a New Dual Polarity and Viscosity Probe Based on the Foldamer Concept

Organogel of Acai Oil in Cosmetics: Microstructure, Stability, Rheology and Mechanical Properties

Organogel (OG) is a semi-solid material composed of gelling molecules organized in the presence of an appropriate organic solvent, through physical or chemical interactions, in a continuous net. This investigation aimed at preparing and characterizing an organogel from acai oil with hyaluronic acid (HA) structured by 12-hydroxystearic acid (12-HSA), aiming at topical anti-aging application. Organogels containing or not containing HA were analyzed by Fourier-transform Infrared Spectroscopy, polarized light optical microscopy, thermal analysis, texture analysis, rheology, HA quantification and oxidative stability. The organogel containing hyaluronic acid (OG + HA) has a spherulitic texture morphology with a net-like structure and absorption bands that evidenced the presence of HA in the three-dimensional net of organogel. The thermal analysis confirmed the gelation and the insertion of HA, as well as a good thermal stability, which is also confirmed by the study of oxidative stability carried out under different temperature conditions for 90 days. The texture and rheology studies indicated a viscoelastic behavior. HA quantification shows the efficiency of the HA cross-linking process in the three-dimensional net of organogel with 11.22 µg/mL for cross-linked HA. Thus, it is concluded that OG + HA shows potentially promising physicochemical characteristics for the development of a cosmetic system.

Viscosity-sensitive thiolated gold nanoclusters with diffusion-controlled emission for intracellular viscosity imaging

A unique diffusion-dependent emission phenomenon of gold nanoclusters was discovered, and can be regulated by the variation in viscosity and temperature. This specific property of gold nanoclusters was further used for viscosity monitoring in live cells, and the results demonstrated that gold nanoclusters are capable of real-time monitoring the abnormal viscosity change inside the cells.

Rational design of NIR fluorescence probes for sensitive detection of viscosity in living cells

Developing near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence probes for detection of intracellular viscosity is still sufficiently challenging. In this work, three kinds of D-A-D type naphthyl and 2,1,3‑benzoxadiazol hybrid NIR dyes functionalized with amino (NY1), N‑methylamino (NY2) and N,N‑dimethylamino (NY3) groups for intracellular micro-viscosity detection were designed and synthesized. All the probes exhibited very weak NIR emission in low viscosity environment and obvious fluorescence enhancement with the increased viscosity. Different substituent groups had a high impact on the photophysical properties and response sensitive of the probes to viscosity. The structure-property relationships were systematic investigated. The results showed that stronger electron-donating ability and larger steric effect of N,N‑dimethylamino led to a narrower energy gap and more sensitive to viscosity environment. Therefore, NY3 exhibited higher signal noise ratio for viscosity detection and was successfully applied for imaging the changes of intracellular micro-viscosity. This work provides an efficient way to design powerful NIR fluorescence probes for viscosity detection.

A red-emissive mitochondrial probe for imaging of the viscosity in living cells

L can exclusively stain mitochondria and monitor the mitochondrial viscosity changes.

A water-soluble "turn-on" fluorescent probe for specifically imaging mitochondria viscosity in living cells

Rational design of water-soluble probes for mitochondrial viscosity in practical biological applications remains a challenge. Herein, we described a novel hydro soluble benzothiazole salt derivative MitoSN, which exhibits specifically response and singular sensitivity to the mitochondria viscosity in living Hela cells. MitoSN displays an excellent fluorescence enhancement (ca. 35-fold) with the increase of the viscosity in the water-glycerol system. Moreover, confocal microscopy indicates that MitoSN is sensitive to the local viscosity and selectively stains mitochondria, the body of zebrafish as well. Importantly, MitoSN is capable to identify the viscosity difference of mitochondria in normal and nystatin treated Hela cells. The work provides a useful tool to monitor the changes of viscosity in the mitochondrial microenvironment.

Pyrene-Containing ortho-Oligo(phenylene)ethynylene Foldamer as a Ratiometric Probe Based on Circularly Polarized Luminescence

In this manuscript, we report the first synthesis of an organic monomolecular emitter, which behaves as a circularly polarized luminescence (CPL)-based ratiometric probe. The enantiopure helical ortho-oligo(phenylene)ethynylene (o-OPE) core has been prepared by a new and efficient macrocyclization reaction. The combination of such o-OPE helical skeleton and a pyrene couple leads to two different CPL emission features in a single structure whose ratio linearly responds to silver(I) concentration.

A triazine-based BODIPY trimer as a molecular viscometer

Photophysical behaviour of a novel trimeric BODIPY rotor with a high extinction coefficient is reported.

Photophysical behaviour of a novel trimeric BODIPY rotor with a high extinction coefficient is reported. Steady state and time resolved fluorescence measurements established that the trimer could be used as a viscometer for molecular solvents, membrane-like environments and several cancer cell lines.

A water-soluble two-photon fluorescence chemosensor for ratiometric imaging of mitochondrial viscosity in living cells

We report a novel water-soluble ratiometric TPEF chemosensor EIN that is specifically responsive and singularly sensitive to mitochondria viscosity in living cells.

Two-dimensional carbon-based conductive materials with dynamically controlled asymmetric Dirac cones

The design of two dimensional graphene-type materials with an anisotropic electron flow direction in the X- and Y-axes opens the door for the development of novel electronic materials with multiple functions in nanoelectronics. In the present work, we have studied the electronic transport properties of a new family of 2D graphene-graphyne hybrids presenting conformationally free phenylethylene subunits. This system ensures two different conductive pathways that are perpendicular to each other: an acene nanoribbon subunit, in the X-axis, with graphene-type conduction, and a free to rotate phenylethylene subunit, in the Y-axis, in which the magnitude of the conduction depends dynamically on the corresponding torsion angle. Our calculations have confirmed that this system presents two different conduction pathways, which are related to the presence of asymmetric Dirac-type cones. Moreover, the Dirac cones can be dynamically modified in the presence of an external gate electrode, which is unprecedented in the literature.