The development of organelle-specific dyes for biomedical research has become an area of increasing interest. Metal complexes emitting from triplet metal-to-ligand charge transfer states (3MLCT) have recently emerged as a promising alternative
to conventional fluorescent probes.1 Where the goal is to overcome the apparent shortcomings of organic-based fluorophores such as self-quenching, photobleaching and signal discrimination versus endogenous autofluorescence.
This presentation will highlight how luminescent metal ion complexes of transition and lanthanide ions have demonstrated promise as cellular imaging agents,1,2 due to their distinctive photo-physical properties. Synthesis and biological behaviour in terms of cellular incubation and organelle specificity for complexes of the type fac-[Re(CO)3(phen)L] where phen is 1,10-phenanthroline, Ir(ppy)2L where ppy is 2-phenylpyridine) and L are various tetrazolato based ligands and cyclen based lanthanide complexes will be presented. The ability to image mitochondria in fixed cells,3 identify malignant prostate cancer,4 localisation with polar lipids,5 report on novel endoplasmic reticulum events,6 especially in the response to changes in metabolism.