A selective and light-up fluorescent probe for β-galactosidase activity detection and imaging in living cells based on an AIE tetraphenylethylene derivative

An aggregation induced emission (AIE) based bioimaging probe, TPE-Gal, was designed for light-up imaging of β-galactosidase in living cells. The applicability of TPE-Gal in imaging endogenous β-galactosidase activity was confirmed in OVCAR-3 cells.