Mitochondria, vital organelles existing
in almost all eukaryotic cells, play a crucial role in energy metabolism
and apoptosis of aerobic organisms. In this work, we report two new
flavone-based fluorescent probes, MC-Mito1 and MC-Mito2, for monitoring mitochondria in living cells. These
two probes exhibit remarkably low toxicity, good cell permeability,
and high specificity; these probes complement the existing library
of mitochondrial imaging agents. The new dyes give nearly no background
fluorescence, and their application does not require tedious postwashing
after cell staining. The appreciable tolerance of MC-Mito2 encourages a broader range of biological applications for understanding
the cell degeneration and apoptosis mechanism.