Water-soluble conjugated polymers (WSCPs), consisting of plenty of charged functional groups and chromic repeat units, provide a novel platform for a variety of bio sensing and bio imaging applications. Since the cell membrane and the nucleolus are negatively charged due to the presence of lipid bilayers and the phosphates in the DNA, cationic WSCPs can easily bind to the cell membranes and DNA through electrostatic interactions. Employing the electrostatic interactions between positively charged WSCPs and negatively charged cells mainly occurs surface staining. Intracellular imaging exclusively depends on the polymer's ability to penetrate through cell membrane. Unlike direct cell membrane diffusion of small molecules, cells internalize most WSCPs via endocytosis due to their bulkier structures. Although cationic polymers show stronger affinity toward the negatively charged cell membranes, staining cell surface using WSCPs in a barely explored topic due the endocytosis problem. We present our efforts in cell imaging using cationic poly(p-phenylene vinylene), P2. We also extend our studies to investigate the ability of P2 in stable cell membrane staining, long-term cell tracking, in distinguishing live and dead cells.

Application of watersoluble, conjugated polymer in cellular imaging

248th National Meeting (2014)

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