Fluorescence spectroscopy and microscopy in biomolecular environments are usually performed in aqueous solution and preferably using red-emitting dyes. However, water quenches their fluorescence. We explore in this contribution how host-guest interactions between red-emitting fluorophores and macrocycles such as cyclodextrins and cucurbiturils can prevent quenching by shielding the dyes from water, thereby enhancing their brightness. We successfully apply this strategy in super-resolution imaging.
Keywords: Cucurbituril; Fluorescence; Fluorescence imaging; Super-resolution.
Copyright 2025 Liza Briant, Alexandre Fürstenberg. License: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.