A lysosome-targeting dual-functional fluorescent probe was rationally designed and developed for imaging intracellular lysosomal viscosity and beta-amyloid. More importantly, the real-time tracking of the dynamic movement of lysosomes, as vesicle structures, has been achieved using Lyso-MC.

We developed a visual and rapid reverse transcription–loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) assay targeting the S gene for SARS-CoV-2 infection. The strength of our study was that we validated the RT-LAMP assay using 481 clinical respiratory samples from two prospective cohorts of suspected COVID-19 patients and on the serial samples from an asymptomatic carrier. The developed RT-LAMP approach showed an increased sensitivity (88.89%) and high consistency (kappa, 0.92) compared with those of reverse transcription-quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) for SARS-CoV-2 screening while requiring only constant-temperature heating and visual inspection, facilitating SARS-CoV-2 screening in well-equipped labs as well as in the field. The time required for RT-LAMP was less than 1 h from sample preparation to the result (more than 2 h for RT-qPCR). This study showed that the RT-LAMP assay was a simple, rapid, and sensitive approach for SARS-CoV-2 infection and can facilitate COVID-19 diagnosis, especially in resource-poor settings.

Two neutral merocyanine-based near-infrared fluorescent probes were for the first time developed through rational engineering of the classical cationic cyanine scaffold IR-780 for in vivo imaging of amyloid-β plaques. In vivo NIRF imaging revealed that the probe could penetrate the blood–brain barrier and efficiently differentiate the living transgenic and wild-type mice.