Detecting lipid droplets polarity: Silicone-based unique fluorescent probe for cancer diagnosis in living cells

Fluorescent probes for monitoring polarity of lipid droplets (LDs) are essential tools in pathological research, especially cancer related. Herein, we have designed a biocompatible and novel fluorescent probe (TDCQ) with intramolecular charge transfer mechanism, which consists of a naphthalimide moiety accepting electron and a triphenylamine fragment providing electron. In view of polarity-sensitivity and AIE characteristic, TDCQ specially aggregates on the LDs in cells by remarkable green dots fluorescent. Due to the variation of LDs numbers in normal cells and cancer cells, the probe emits stronger green fluorescence in cancer cells but weaker in normal cells. Moreover, TDCQ has outstanding photostability and low toxicity, permitting green fluorescence to persist for a valid time in cells. This article demonstrates that the capacity of TDCQ for facilitating the in-depth study of LDs and applying to the identification of cancer cells.