A comparative study of dual organelle pH tracker, red-blue and red-green sensors and its applications in cancer cells studies
Abstract
A systematic study on structurally similar, spectrally distinguishable dual-mode pH sensors ( 1 ) with red–blue and ( 2 ) with red–green emission is presented covering optical spectroscopic measurements in solution and in HeLa cells and their sensing performance is compared. Both sensors, which contain a piperazine unit that targets organelles such as lysosomes and mitochondria, exhibit different colors in acidic and neutral media, and rely on specific photophysical mechanisms for acidic pH sensing—namely photo-induced electron transfer (PET), intramolecular charge transfer (ICT), and fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET)—for acidic pH sensing. As determined from their emission and excitation spectra, dual-mode sensors 1 and 2 exhibit a broad range of p K a values, including four different p K a for 2 calculated by the ratiometric emission intensities in the neutral to acidic pH range. A comparison of the sensing behavior of these novel sensor molecules with Mito and Lysotracker dyes highlight their significant application potential, as the fluorescence of one fluorophore confirms the sensor’s presence within cells, while the other reflects the pH of the cellular environment.
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BibTeX
@article{akshita2026comparative,
title = {{A comparative study of dual organelle pH tracker, red-blue and red-green sensors and its applications in cancer cells studies}},
author = {Akshita and Garima Tiwari and Rythem Goyal and Saleem Javed and Shruti Mishra and Swati Singh and Payel Roy and Rajesh Kumar and Priyanka Srivastava and Vikram Singh and Ute Resch Genger},
journal = {Scientific Reports},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1038/s41598-026-72926-9},
url = {https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-026-72926-9},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - A comparative study of dual organelle pH tracker, red-blue and red-green sensors and its applications in cancer cells studies
AU - Akshita
AU - Garima Tiwari
AU - Rythem Goyal
AU - Saleem Javed
AU - Shruti Mishra
AU - Swati Singh
AU - Payel Roy
AU - Rajesh Kumar
AU - Priyanka Srivastava
AU - Vikram Singh
AU - Ute Resch Genger
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/13
JO - Scientific Reports
DO - 10.1038/s41598-026-72926-9
UR - https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-026-72926-9
AB - A systematic study on structurally similar, spectrally distinguishable dual-mode pH sensors ( 1 ) with red–blue and ( 2 ) with red–green emission is presented covering optical spectroscopic measurements in solution and in HeLa cells and their sensing performance is compared. Both sensors, which contain a piperazine unit that targets organelles such as lysosomes and mitochondria, exhibit different colors in acidic and neutral media, and rely on specific photophysical mechanisms for acidic pH sensing—namely photo-induced electron transfer (PET), intramolecular charge transfer (ICT), and fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET)—for acidic pH sensing. As determined from their emission and excitation spectra, dual-mode sensors 1 and 2 exhibit a broad range of p K a values, including four different p K a for 2 calculated by the ratiometric emission intensities in the neutral to acidic pH range. A comparison of the sensing behavior of these novel sensor molecules with Mito and Lysotracker dyes highlight their significant application potential, as the fluorescence of one fluorophore confirms the sensor’s presence within cells, while the other reflects the pH of the cellular environment.
SN - 2045-2322
ER -