Styryl dyes as two-photon excited fluorescent probes for DNA detection and two-photon laser scanning fluorescence microscopy of living cells.

Spectral-fluorescent properties of benzothiazole styryl monomer (Bos-3) and homodimer (DBos-21) dyes in presence of DNA were studied. The dyes enhance their fluorescence intensity in 2–3 orders of magnitude upon interaction with DNA. Studied styrylcyanines in DNA presence demonstrate rather high values of two-photon absorption (TPA) cross-section, which are comparable with the values of TPA cross section of the rhodamine dyes. An applicability of the styrylcyanines as probes for the fluorescence microscopy of living cells was studied. It was shown that both dyes are cell-permeable but homodimer dye DBos-21 produces noticeably brighter staining of HeLa cells comparing with monomer dye Bos-3. Molecules of DBos-21 initially bind to the nucleic acids- containing cell organelles (presumable mitochondria) and are able to penetrate into the cell nucleus. Thus, homodimer styryl DBos-21 dye is viewed as efficient stain for single-photon and two-photon excitation fluorescence imaging of living cells.