Monitoring mitochondrial viscosity with anticancer phosphorescent Ir( iii ) complexes via two-photon lifetime imaging

treatment, a time-dependent increase in viscosity and heterogeneity is observed along with the loss of membrane potential in mitochondria. In summary, our work shows that multifunctional phosphorescent metal complexes can induce and precisely detect microenvironmental changes simultaneously at the subcellular level using TPPLIM, which may deepen the understanding of the cell death mechanisms induced by these metallocompounds.