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research article

Fast, Bright, and Reversible Fluorescent Labeling of Rhodamine-Binding Proteins

Kompa, Julian
•
Dornfeld, L
•
Porzberg, Nicola
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December 30, 2025
Journal of the American Chemical Society

Rhodamine dyes conjugated to targeting ligands can yield exceptionally bright fluorescent probes for live-cell imaging. However, the limited permeability of such rhodamine derivatives restricts their broader applications, particularly in vivo. Here, we present Rho-tag and SiR-tag, engineered protein tags derived from bacterial multidrug-resistant proteins that bind unsubstituted (silicon) rhodamines with nanomolar affinity. Unsubstituted (silicon) rhodamines readily cross membranes and enable rapid, reversible, and fluorogenic labeling of the tags in mammalian cells within seconds. The labeling of Rho-tag and SiR-tag is compatible with various super-resolution imaging methods and allows their use alongside self-labeling tags, such as HaloTag7 and SNAP-tag. The high affinity and specificity of both tags, combined with the permeability and outstanding spectroscopic properties of rhodamines, make them particularly attractive for in vivo bioimaging, as demonstrated by efficient fluorescent labeling inC. elegansembryos and zebrafish larvae.

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Type
research article
DOI
10.1021/jacs.5c18083
Author(s)
Kompa, Julian

Max Planck Institute for Medical Research

Dornfeld, L

Max Planck Institute for Medical Research

Porzberg, Nicola

Max Planck Institute for Medical Research

Jang, Soohyen

Goethe University Frankfurt

Zedlitz, Silja

Max Planck School Matter to Life

Lilje, Simon Hans

Max Planck Institute for Medical Research

Catapano, Claudia

Goethe Institute

Jocher, David

Max Planck Institute for Medical Research

Merk, Lukas

Max Planck Institute for Medical Research

Hoege, Carsten

Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics

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Date Issued

2025-12-30

Publisher

American Chemical Society (ACS)

Published in
Journal of the American Chemical Society
Article Number

jacs.5c18083

Editorial or Peer reviewed

REVIEWED

Written at

EPFL

EPFL units
LIP  
Available on Infoscience
January 5, 2026
Use this identifier to reference this record
https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/257451
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