Light up Live Cell Nuclear Envelope in Real-Time Using a Two-Photon Absorption and AIE Chromophore

In this letter, aggregation from two-photon absorption (2PA) molecules in living cells were firstly observed and the related aggregation induced emission (AIE) properties were investigated as a cell tracer for L ((Z)-3-(4-(Bis(4-ethoxyphenyl) amino)phenyl)-2-(4-amino-phenyl)- acrylonitrile cyano-substituted ) based on triphenylamine with D–π–A model. L was further used as a two-photon absorption (2PA, λ ex = 900, λ em = 550 nm δ = 156 GM) live-cell marker for real-time, long-term cell growth and proliferation monitoring, with rapidly adhering whole intracellular membrane-rich system. Remarkably, different from existing organic AIE chromophores and other commercially available probes, L exhibited intense intracellular-AIE property with stable nuclear envelope (NE) staining under two-photon excited microscopy (TPEM) through detailed in cellulo studies.