Combined tetraphenylethylene fluorogens with positive charge for imaging capsule-covered pathogens.

ABSTRACT

Capsule-covered pathogens can cause serious infectious diseases, and are highly pathogenic to humans. Herein, we developed four positively charged tetraphenylethylene derivatives (PC-TPEgens) that in certain combinations were applied to identify capsule-bearing pathogens using fluorescence imaging. The dual-charged probes were used to visualize the entire process of phagocytosis of pathogens into macrophages.