Fluorogenic cell surface glycan labelling with fluorescence molecular rotor dyes and nucleic acid stains.

This article explores a technique for labeling cell surface glycans using fluorescence molecular rotor (FMR) dyes and nucleic acid stains. The researchers discovered that covalent labeling of sialic acids on live cell surfaces or mucus increased the fluorescence of FMR dyes, enabling wash-free imaging of cell surfaces. The FMR dyes were also sensitive to changes in viscosity, suggesting their potential use in detecting disease and therapeutic intervention. The researchers further investigated factors that enhance the fluorescence of covalently bound FMR on the cell surface, such as mucin content and viscosity. The article discusses the application of fluorescence microscopy to study changes in cell surface composition, with the researchers using two dyes to serve as a friction sensor and a concentration reporter. They found that treatment with a reducing agent decreased the fluorescence intensity ratio between the dyes, indicating reduced steric hindrance on the cell surface. The study proposes that this method could be valuable for monitoring changes in cell surface properties and could have applications in screening for mucolytic agents or studying the effects of bacterial/viral challenges. [Extracted from the article]