title: Molecular rotors as fluorescent probes for biological studies.
abstract: Molecular rotors, which structure can be 4-(N,N-dimethylamino)-benzene, -benzylidene and -cinnamylidene derivatives and, also, coumarine-like compounds, have photophysical characteristics which strongly depend on the environmental parameters (polarity, viscosity, temperature, etc.). In this paper, a basic knowledge on molecular fluorescent rotors will be reminded and two fields of applications using molecular fluorescent rotors as optical sensors will be described: firstly, in polymer and, more particularly to detect the formation of hydrophobic microdomains, in the case of the aggregation of amphiphilic polymers (as models for globular proteins and/or enzymes) and, secondly, in cell biology, especially in liposomes (as models for biological membranes) to follow their thermotropic behavior and in endothelial cells under 3D fluorescence microscopy.
authors.affiliation: DCPR-GRAPP-UMR 7630 CNRS-INPL, Groupe-ENSIC, Nancy, France.
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Viriot
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Carré
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Geoffroy-Chapotot
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Brembilla
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Muller
authors.forename: J F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Stoltz
mesh_terms: D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D006801:Humans; D008081:Liposomes / Q000648:ultrastructure; D015335:Molecular Probes / Q000648:ultrastructure; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence
chemical_list: D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D008081:Liposomes; D015335:Molecular Probes; D011108:Polymers