Luke D. Lavis

TL;DR: Inspired by molecular modeling, the N,N-dimethylamino substituents in tetramethylrhodamine are replaced with four-membered azetidine rings, which doubles the quantum efficiency and improves the photon yield of the dye in applications ranging from in vitro single-molecule measurements to super-resolution imaging.

TL;DR: The chemical and photophysical properties of oft-used fluorophores are examined and classic and contemporary examples in which utility has been built upon these scaffolds are highlighted.

TL;DR: Live-cell single-molecule imaging revealed that TF LCDs interact to form local high-concentration hubs at both synthetic DNA arrays and endogenous genomic loci, suggesting that under physiological conditions, rapid, reversible, and selective multivalent LCD-LCD interactions occur between TFs and the RNA Pol II machinery to activate transcription.

TL;DR: This work refined and extended the Janelia Fluor strategy, finding that incorporation of 3-substituted azetidine groups allows rational tuning of the spectral and chemical properties of rhodamine dyes with unprecedented precision.

TL;DR: This review discusses the concepts and strategies of structural and functional imaging in living cells at the single-molecule level with minimal perturbations to the specimen.