A clickable AIEgen for visualization of macrophage-microbe interaction

Visualization of immunocyte-microbe interaction is of great importance to reveal the physiological role and working mechanism of innate and adaptive immune system. The lack of rapid and stable microbial labeling platform and insufficient understanding of macrophage-microbe interaction may delay precautions that could be made. In this contribution, a clickable AIEgen, CDPP-NCS, containing a cationic pyridinium moiety for targeting bacteria and an isothiocyanate moiety for covalently bonding with amine groups, is successfully developed. With the advantages of excellent photostability and rapid bioconjugation with amine groups on the bacterial envelope, the processes of macrophage-bacterium interactions with subcellular resolution has been successfully captured using this clickable AIE probe. Therefore, the new clickable AIEgen is a powerful tool to study the interaction between cell and bacterium.