•A novel chimeric molecular pH-meter (Lyso-DR) was proposed.•The proton activatable rhodamine-lactam and dansyl moiety was linked to form ratiometric fluorescence pair.•Lyso-DR exhibited pH dependent dual fluorescence emission inside lysosomes in living cells.•pH variations of lysosomes undergoing apoptosis and necrosis were visualized with Lyso-DR.Intracellular acidic vesicles, constituted mostly by lysosomes, mediated a variety of biological events ranging from endocytosis, apoptosis, to cancer metastasis, etc. A chimeric molecular pH-meter (Lyso-DR), comprised of a dansyl fluorophore and proton activatable rhodamine-lactam, was prepared for ratiometric reporting of intralysosomal acidity. Exclusively confined in lysosomes, Lyso-DR exhibited pH dependent dual fluorescence emission bands which enable resolution of individual lysosomes in terms of acidity and quantitation of the overall intracellular lysosomal acidity, e.g. the lysosomal pH of HeLa cells is around pH 5.0 whereas that of L929 cells is around pH 6.2. Lyso-DR effectively differentiated the lysosomal pH changes of cells undergoing apoptosis vs necrosis, suggesting its utility in investigations on lysosome involved biomedical processes.

A novel water-soluble pH stimuli-responsive fluorescent copolymer of P(PEGMA-b-(MAH-co-Rh6GEAm)) was synthesized by two-step sequential RAFT polymerization. The prodrug with drug content of 0.1560 mg/mg was prepared by coupling doxorubicin (DOX) onto the copolymer via acid-cleavable hydrazone bond, formed between the carbonyl group of DOX and abundant hydrazide functional groups in the copolymer. The amphiphilic DOX-conjugated prodrug (P(PEGMA-b-(MAH-DOX-co-Rh6GEAm))) could easily form a micelle in water with Dh of less than 100 nm. It could be transported into HepG2 cells and release DOX without burst release, while the leakage of DOX can be avoided in the simulated normal physiological media. Furthermore, its fluorescence intensity experienced a reversible change with the transformation of the media pH. The better biocompatibility, pH stimuli-responsiveness, and the strong fluorescence at low pH media make the nanoparticles a potential platform for the controlled release of anticarcinogens and real-time fluorescent imaging of tumor tissues.