Novel super-resolution capable mitochondrial probe, MitoRed AIE, enables assessment of real-time molecular mitochondrial dynamics

Mitochondria and mitochondrial dynamics play vital roles in health and disease. With the intricate nanometer-scale structure and rapid dynamics of mitochondria, super-resolution microscopy techniques possess great un-tapped potential to significantly contribute to understanding mitochondrial biology and kinetics. Here we present a novel mitochondrial probe (MitoRed AIE) suitable for live mitochondrial dynamics imaging and single particle tracking (SPT), together with a multi-dimensional data analysis approach to assess local mitochondrial (membrane) fluidity. The MitoRed AIE probe localizes primarily to mitochondrial membranes, with 95 ms fluorophore on-time delivering 106 photons/ms, characteristics which we exploit to demonstrate live cell 100 fps 3D time-lapse tracking of mitochondria. Combining our experimental and analytical approaches, we uncover mitochondrial dynamics at unprecedented time scales. This approach opens up a new regime into high spatio-temporal resolution dynamics in many areas of mitochondrial biology.