MOLECULAR ROTORS AS FLUORESCENT-PROBES FOR BIOLOGICAL STUDIES

Molecular rotors, which structure can be 4-(N,N-dimethylamino)-benzene , -benzylidene and -cinnamylidene derivatives and, also, coumarine-lik e compounds, have photophysical characteristics which strongly depend on the environmental parameters (polarity, viscosity, temperature, etc .). In this paper, a basic knowledge on molecular fluorescent rotors w ill be reminded and two fields of applications using molecular fluores cent rotors as optical sensors will be described: firstly, in polymer and, more particularly to detect the formation of hydrophobic microdom ains, in the case of the aggregation of amphiphilic polymers (as model s for globular proteins and/or enzymes) and, secondly, in cell biology , especially in liposomes (as models for biological membranes) to foll ow their thermotropic behavior and in endothelial cells under 3D fluor escence microscopy.