Invited ReviewThermometers for monitoring cellular temperature

- Various kinds of thermometers for monitoring cellular temperature have been developed.
- Some thermometers showed heterogeneous temperature distribution and thermogenesis at the single-cell level.
- There is a discussion on the reliability of fluorescence-based thermometric methods.

Temperature is a critical parameter that influences various biological events and reactions in homeotherms (including mammals), poikilotherms, and plants. However, the spatiotemporal patterns of temperature at the single-cell level remain largely unknown. Various kinds of thermometers have been developed for monitoring temperature at the single-cell level. We introduce some cellular thermometers based on Europium (III) thenoyltrifluoroacetonate trihydrate, gold nanoclusters, nanodiamonds, synthetic polymers, quantum dots, green fluorescent protein, and bimaterial microcantilevers. We also discuss a critique of these thermometric methods and provide some responses to this critique.

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