Chemical sensors for imaging total cellular aliphatic aldehydes in live cells.

Aliphatic aldehydes are reactive electrophilic carbonyls that cross-link with DNA and proteins leading to cellular toxicity and disease pathogenesis. This toxicity is due to the cooperative effect of multiple aldehydes a common mechanism. Therefore, live-cell imaging of total aliphatic aldehydes, small-to-long chain (C-C), is highly desired to decipher their physiological and pathological functions.